Brian Ferguson: East-west rivalry ups the ante for both cities

I HAVE to admit I’ve always relished a bit of old-fashioned Glasgow-Edinburgh rivalry (or should that be Edinburgh-Glasgow?). It’s never far from the surface, comes in many and varied forms, and can set off the most mild-mannered of individuals on an unlikely rant.

It’s probably the great unspoken factor that keeps both cities on their toes and offers a regular alarm call against complacency. You can almost imagine the conversations…

“How the hell did that lot win best UK city again?” “How on earth can that place be one of the coolest cities on the planet?” “How did the judges give it to that hotel yet again?” “Who can afford to eat in a Michelin-starred restaurant anyway?”

You can almost hear the gnashing and wailing at the other end of the M8 when another major event is secured, plaudit is won or film shoot starts rolling.

Neither city has managed to make a convincing breakaway over the past couple of decades, when both have made huge transformational leaps.

Glasgow has nothing remotely on the scale or prestige of the Edinburgh International Festival or Fringe, yet now has the kind of year-round programme of events that the capital has long harboured notions of.

Revamped museums, galleries and festival venues in Edinburgh have given the capital’s cultural scene a crucial boost over the past couple of years, yet it is Glasgow that is capturing the big award ceremonies, and is casting a serious eye towards bigger prizes, like the Brit Awards and Sports Personality of the Year ceremony.

And months before it is due to open its doors, the likes of Rod Stewart and Peter Gabriel are linking up to grace the new Hydro arena.

Despite endless blueprints and pipedreams, many so-called flagship sports facilities in Edinburgh remain in the dark ages. The contrast with the facilities that Glasgow will boast by 2014 is staggering, although the pressure for the authorities is already on, to secure enough big events to ensure they are viable.

In Glasgow, both the SECC and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall were up and running 20 years ago, but the landscape around them is unrecognisable – and still changing.

The striking new venues opposite Celtic Park will not only play host to some of the biggest Commonwealth Games events in two years, but have allowed the city to become a serious player when it comes to bidding for major events.

Yet Hampden Park is a pale shadow of Murrayfield and Edinburgh Castle is an unbeatable backdrop for a concert, either on the Esplanade, or down in Princes Street Gardens, where Simple Minds will herald the start of 2013 in just over a month.

And fingers are being crossed in several corridors of power in the capital that Edinburgh Castle will be named the starting location for the 2017 Tour de France before the end of 2012.

No-one is in any doubt that the securing of the world’s biggest cycling extravaganza and the huge hoopla that goes with it would be a massive coup for the whole country. The images of the castle acting as a backdrop to the event would be priceless.

But as the serious countdown begins to the three-day Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh, it is worth reflecting how the capital has retained the event as a linchpin of its offering, while Glasgow has all but abandoned the idea of heralding the start of the new year.

It is the one area where Glasgow appears to have given up the ghost, despite the vast numbers who will flock into the city over the next few weeks for all manner of festivities.

It seems strange now to recall that Glasgow was ahead of Edinburgh in staging big Hogmanay parties. It is also utterly bizarre that Glasgow has, for the second year in a row, elected to scrap any official celebrations over the Bells – especially when you consider the huge efforts made to lure international visitors to the city, the lengthy campaign to position the city’s cultural offering and the cutting-edge bands it produces.

Edinburgh has benefited from intense lobbying behind the scenes from strong characters like Pete Irvine of Unique Events and Councillor Steve Cardownie, as well as strong government support.

The fact that modest celebrations in Inverness and Stonehaven will find themselves basking in the limelight on Hogmanay, while Glasgow has frozen itself out completely, will hopefully stir someone, somewhere, in the city into action.