Edinburgh's Ross Bandstand to host eight weeks of summer events under rethink

Festivals set to be encouraged to use historic arena

Eight weeks of events would be staged in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens over the summer as part of new efforts to revive the city’s Ross Bandstand arena.

Large-scale events would also be held in May and September under proposals to step up the number of showcases for arts and culture in the historic park.

The bandstand arena would be made available for all of the city’s main summer festivals from as early as this summer if initial proposals are approved by councillors.

The Ross Bandstand arena in Princes Street Gardens was opened to the public to show TV coverage of the Coronation of King Charles last year. Picture: Scott Louden

Major event organisers could be awarded three-year contracts to put on all-ticket shows in a significant rethink of controversial curbs imposed in recent years.

The bandstand arena had been expected to remain completely closed off to the public this August.

However its revival is being proposed after the council was approached by music promoters behind the Fly Open Air festival, one of the few events to go ahead in the gardens in recent years.

The Watchtower Group had asked the council to consider allowing events to be run between April and September in future.

The organisers of the Fly Open Air festival have been in talks with the city council about making more use of the Ross Bandstand arena in Edinburgh's Princes St Gardens.

The council has instead suggested that a pilot “festival programme” is launched at the bandstand this summer, including two days of large-scale events.

Under a proposed “revised schedule” for future years, the main summer season would be bookended by a “community/family orientated” event in May and a “youth orientated event” in September.

The council is drawing up proposals to charge a “mandatory” levy which would apply to ticketed events, with the money raised going towards the upkeep of the bandstand and the gardens.

However for the new programme to go ahead the council would need to relax controversial new curbs restrictions put in place less than two years ago.

The existing Ross Bandstand in Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens dates back to 1935. Picture: Jane Barlow

These only allow four major events to be held in the gardens throughout the year, including the annual Hogmanay concert.

The restrictions effectively led to the council pulling the plug on all-ticket pop and rock concerts which had been staged in the gardens for decades.

The Edinburgh International Festival, which had to put a large stage into the gardens for two days of live music last year, has also pulled out of staging future events in the gardens and has cited funding problems over bringing back the long-running fireworks concert.

Council officials say the EIF’s decision to use other venues has provided an opportunity to “reshape the major events calendar to allow the Ross Bandstand and wider gardens to be animated sensitively and flexibly during the summer with low impact activities.”

The existing Ross Bandstand dates back to 1935. Picture: Rob McDougall

However the council has admitted that the decline in the number of ticketed events in the gardens has also placed “pressure” on budgets.

It has suggested there is “potential” to recover some of this lost income through “increased use” of the Ross Bandstand arena from “additional smaller-scale events.”

An official report for the council’s culture committee, by head of cultural venues Karl Chapman and place director Paul Lawrence, states that public access would be maintained during the daytime for the “majority” of events proposed under the new programme.

The council report adds: “The Ross Bandstand and West Princes Street Gardens have hosted events of all shapes and sizes for many years.

"In addition to its primary function as a world-class public park and greenspace, it is also a key city centre event space.

"Having the Ross Bandstand, a historic event amphitheatre used for decades, situated at the heart of the gardens adds to the sense that they have a unique role in the city’s cultural life.

“The city’s festivals and events offering is key to its image at home and abroad, and to its capital city status."

Val Walker, the city council's culture convener, said: “Our plan is to use this year as a trial period to see how these new initiatives could take shape and use this learning to move into 2025 and beyond.

“I’d stress that we want all of our parks and facilities, including West Princes Street Gardens and the Ross Bandstand, to be used and enjoyed by our residents.”