At last, SNP ministers are getting serious about Scotland's festivals

Plans to form a new partnership between the Scottish Government and arts festivals suggest ministers mean business

We recently raised the spectre of the Manchester Festival Fringe in a bleak future world in which this jewel in Edinburgh’s crown had decided to leave Scotland’s capital, after receiving a better offer. Given their long, illustrious history, the city’s festivals are at risk of being taken for granted, with their importance as economic and cultural events overlooked by complacent politicians.

So the news that the Scottish Government plans to form a new partnership with the country’s arts festivals – putting them on a par with the food and drink sector and tourism industry – is more exciting than it might at first seem.

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It is a welcome sign that the Scottish Government is treating festivals with the seriousness they deserve. And, rather than simply dolling out public money and hoping for the best, ministers appear to be rolling up their sleeves in preparation for the difficult task of ensuring a coordinated approach within government and the relevant agencies that ensures taxpayers’ money is used in the most effective way.

This is the complex, detailed stuff of government that some politicians find boring but which can actually deliver real results on the ground.

Furthermore, in another encouraging sign, Culture Secretary Angus Robertson has written an open letter asking arts festivals for ideas about how government can best help them. Top-down approaches from ministers who think they know best seldom produce better results than simply asking the people in the relevant business how things should be run.

While this appears to be the right place to start, there is clearly a long way between optimistic promises of a new dawn to the actual delivery of tangible benefits. We will wait to hear further details with interest.

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However, there is no marking down the government’s intent on an issue that is particularly close to The Scotsman’s heart, as regular readers will know. Ministers seem to be showing the necessary ambition, along with a willingness to wrestle with the complexities of the real world that has been lacking in too many other areas of government. Edinburgh, the future looks a little brighter. Manchester, dream on.

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