Edinburgh Festivals Impact Study - ETAG

1. Report SummaryBOP Consulting was commissioned to conduct an impact assessment ofthe twelve Festivals represented by Festivals Edinburgh. The Study wascommissioned by the Festivals Forum and in partnership with ScottishEnterprise, Festivals Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh Council,EventScotland (also representing VisitScotland), The ScottishGovernment and Scottish Arts Council (now Creative Scotland).It builds on the Edinburgh Festivals Economic Impact Studyconducted by SQW in 2004/05, which assessed Edinburgh’s Festivals interms of their collective economic impact. It also responds to some ofthe issues identified in the Thundering Hooves report in 2006, whichlooked at the competitive global position of Edinburgh’s Festivals.While the assessment of economic impact remains a key concernof this study, there was a shared recognition among the Festivals andthe commissioning stakeholders of the need for a more roundedassessment of the value of the Festivals. This study therefore set out totake a ‘360 degree’ approach to assessing impact that considers social,cultural, environmental and media aspects, in addition to the economiceffects. The research thus enables the Festivals to demonstrate theirvalue to a much wider range of stakeholders across Scotland andbeyond. A further key objective was to develop a repeatable methodthat is owned by the Festivals themselves, in the form of a new impactassessment framework and data collection process.At the core of the impact assessment lies an ambitious and farreaching programme of primary research. The scale and depth of thestudy exceeds all previous research projects carried out on behalf of theFestivals: more than 50 separate surveys were conducted across thetwelve Festivals, involving in total more than 15,000 respondents. Thisdid not only include audiences, but also sought to understand theimpact that the Festivals have on a range of other groups andstakeholders (performers and delegates, attending journalists,volunteers, temporary staff, teachers and Festival sponsors).The study shows that Edinburgh’s Festivals together provide anincredibly rich and varied cultural offer. While audiences in the UK andinternationally may initially associate Edinburgh with larger Festivals likethe Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, orRoyal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, it is the diversity and quality ofexperiences offered throughout the year-round Festival season thatmakes Edinburgh truly distinctive. Our research confirms that theFestivals together have positive impacts that span an enormous range ofcultural, social and economic areas. This year has also seen the Festivalstaking a leadership role by taking the first collective steps towardsmeasuring the impact that they have on the environment.Edinburgh Festivals ImpactStudywww.bop.co.ukCultural impact: provide enriching, unique, world classcultural experiences and develop audiences for cultureProviding enriching, world class cultural experiences lies at the heart ofall the Festivals. A positive Festival experience is also a prerequisite formany of the wider social and economic outcomes that may arise (in thesense that a good Festival experience may shape visitors’ views aboutthe city itself in a positive way and make them more likely to return,garner more positive media attention, and so on).The research finds that audiences are very satisfied with theirexperience of the Edinburgh Festivals. Indeed, they rate the events asbetter than other comparable events and activities. Audiences value theFestivals because they give them the opportunity to have an enjoyablesocial experience with friends and family, but also because they result ina number of specific cultural benefits. Audiences value world class and international cultural experiences –and the Festivals provide these. Through the Festivals, audiences are able to engage more deeplywith the many art forms, including discovering new artists, new stylesand new genres. Audiences consider the Festivals to be unique and distinctive –standing out from comparable events.2

The study also shows that the Festivals have an impact on culturalparticipation more widely, in particular on audiences’ year-roundattendance. For instance, there is evidence that: The Festivals are a stimulus to further attendance at similar culturalevents subsequently. Audiences are more likely to take their children to similar culturalevents as a result of their Festival experience. Audiences are more likely to take greater risks in their cultural choicesand explore new cultural experiences as a result of their Festivalgoing.Cultural impact: develop the creative, cultural and eventsindustries in Edinburgh and ScotlandAside from events for the public, the Festivals also promote, develop andsupport the cultural, creative and events sector in Edinburgh, Scotlandand beyond. Most obviously, the Festivals make an important economiccontribution to the range of cultural venues that are involved in hostingthe Festivals throughout the year. The Festivals also contribute to theprofessional development of performers and artists. Simply taking partin the Festivals increases artists’ reputations and provides them withinspiration for new work as well as the prospect of follow-on sales andnew commissions.The Festivals are also proactive in supporting performers andcompanies. This includes directly spending a significant proportion oftheir budget on artists based in Scotland, and by providing tailoreddelegate programmes that increase practitioners’ knowledge and skills,and widen and deepen their peer networks.The Festivals help to build capacity for the sector long-term.Volunteers and temporary staff who are working with the Festivals aremore intensely engaged than in, for instance, the Scottish museumssector (in terms of the average number of hours contributed pervolunteer). This wealth of experience constitutes a resource for thesector when looking ahead towards other large scale events such as theGlasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.Learning impactAudiences’ increased enjoyment of the event – and of the cultural formor subject – translates into learning benefits for a large part of theaudience. This learning includes a better understanding of the culturalform itself, and of wider environmental or social issues covered throughthe Festival activities. Some of the Festivals also provide activities for theformal education sector. Teachers perceive these as a value-addedenrichment to the curriculum, rather than a major contributor to coresubject learning.Edinburgh Festivals ImpactStudywww.bop.co.ukIn line with this, the Festivals have very positive effects onchildren’s personal development, in particular their imagination andcreativity. The Festivals do not have any major influence on pupils’attitudes to school learning and peer relationships. This is perhaps notsurprising, considering that most Festivals’ activities for the formaleducation sector during the Festival time only offer a very shortengagement period. This is also true for audience engagement atFestival events more generally. However, many Festivals do offereducation activities outside the Festival time and these offer greaterscope for deeper engagement.The brevity of the interaction is likely to be a key reason why theFestivals’ impacts on increasing knowledge and learning, albeit positive,are perhaps not as high as expected (compared to other cultural sectorresearch). Another explanatory factor may be that the Festivals’audiences are already sophisticated and knowledgeable culturalconsumers, so the degree to which the Festivals are able to contribute tofurther improvements in their understanding or knowledge of thecultural form or subject matter itself, may be limited. Having said this, theFestivals do provide some forms of deeper engagement during theFestival period – for volunteers, temporary staff and some workshopparticipants – and these groups do indeed show strong learning impactsin the subject area and the cultural form.Place-making and media impact: enhancing the identityand image of Edinburgh and ScotlandOne of the most striking findings from the research is the strong andpositive impact that the Festivals have on the way the City of Edinburgh3

and Scotland are perceived, by locals and external visitors alike. While itmight be expected that attendees have a positive attitude towards theFestivals, the results exceed what is known from research on othercultural and heritage activities (including where improving local prideand perceptions have been a major aim of the activities). Our resultsshow that:people – whether between family members, or between people fromboth similar and different communities. Providing opportunities forpeople to meet people from, and share messages about, differentcultures – within the positive and informal context of a cultural event likethe Edinburgh Mela – also helps people to increase their understandingof other cultures. Local residents take great pride in the Festivals and the value theyprovide to Edinburgh as a city.Social impact: contribute to well-being and quality of life Visitors believe that the Festivals make the city distinctive; they highlyvalue the experience of having multiple Festivals runningsimultaneously during the summer period, and are more likely to revisit as a result of attending the Festivals (thus ensuring the continuedcontribution to Edinburgh’s visitor economy). The image that the Festivals present of Edinburgh and Scotland is oneof diversity and openness; showcasing a positive national identity.The media attention that the Festivals generate (as recordedthrough the online monitoring service Meltwater News) is also verysignificant, and it exceeds that of other comparable events. The datarecorded by the online news monitoring tool used in the study does notallow any conclusions to be drawn as to whether this media attention ispositive or negative. However, the social media activity generated by theattending journalists has been assessed and it is largely favourable. Thissuggests that the ultimate media messages that are networked andsyndicated from the attending journalists are predominantly favourable.Social impact: cultural diversity and community cohesionWith the exception of the Edinburgh Mela, achieving social outcomes isnot the primary aim of any of the Festivals. Nevertheless, our researchshows that the Festivals do have a number of social impacts, in additionto promoting local pride and a sense of belonging. In this study, theFestivals’ social impacts were interrogated based on the concept ofsocial capital, which considers the formation of social networks,relationships and links to resources as a first step in achieving longerterm socio-economic outcomes. From this perspective, there isevidence that the Festivals help to build social connections betweenEdinburgh Festivals ImpactStudywww.bop.co.ukParticipation in culture and leisure activities is thought to support allround well-being (in the sense of ‘a positive physical, social and mentalstate’) and ‘happiness’. Although relatively mild, the Festival researchwas able to demonstrate a noticeable impact on people’s all-round wellbeing, which is in line with other cultural and heritage events research.In addition, the Festivals have a stronger well-being impact onparticular groups. Firstly, they positively affect the overall emotional,mental and social well-being of children in their early

the twelve Festivals represented by Festivals Edinburgh. The Study was commissioned by the Festivals Forum and in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, Festivals Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh Council, EventScotland (also representing VisitScotland), The Scottish Gove