“Regenerative tourism” asks: "How can visitors leave a place better than they found it? Better for its communities, its culture, its public spaces and its local economy. It treats a destination not as a product to be consumed but as a living system to be strengthened."

Inspired by Veselina Stoyanova’s article Edinburgh festival: how the city’s residents could benefit after the crowds leave, a dozen or so change makers, all Edinburgh residents, some with tourism-related experience and expertise, got together to explore two questions:

• How could the festival evolve to change the lives of Edinburgh’s residents and visitors for the better?

• How might Edinburgh make a start to become the "world's first regenerative festival city"?

Walking on the Meadows on a blustery autumn morning, on a Netwalk for Changemakers, the overwhelming conclusion we came to is that the festival happens to Edinburgh, rather than the festival growing from the city.

Here are my brief notes on the main issues that emerged from our conversations and our ideas about what could or should happen next. (Apologies to any participant whose input got lost along the way!)

People feel the festival isn’t for them

Even though 50 - 60% of ticket sales are to local residents, a large proportion of locals don’t attend and don’t feel it’s for them.

The cost of tickets is likely to be part of this, and the fact that any discounts for residents, which vary between venues, are poorly promoted and often restricted to very specific dates and times of day.

Edinburgh’s infrastructure can’t cope during the festival – overflowing bins, crowded public transport (worse than usual this year due to the Princes St fire), logjammed pavements etc. This is a very tangible way in which the festival happens to Edinburgh.

People aren’t aware of what’s happening, where the money goes and how decisions are made

The festival just seems to happen! It’s not clear who is making decisions about any of this, how those decisions are made and for whose benefit. As Edinburgh residents, we feel left out - including on decisions about how the tourist tax is spent.

Local creative output is missing or invisable

Given the scale and nature of the festival the majority of shows etc are from outside Edinburgh, and it’s wonderful to have the opportunity to see them. But where are the shows by local talent, what are the opportunities for local performers, especially from community arts groups, to be part of the festival?

A couple of people at the event said they’d wanted to put on a Fringe show, but felt “outside the ecosystem” and unclear about the process, timescales and costs.

Economic benefits are not retained locally

While the festival obviously creates lots of jobs and economic activity, it seems that the majority of jobs are minimum wage and that the majority of profits leave the city as most hotels are owned elsewhere.

Local suppliers aren’t promoted. The featured drinks brands at major venues, eg Jack Daniels, are internationally owned. Promoting and celebrating local independent producers would not just benefit the city economically, it would make the festival feel more rooted in Edinburgh.

What could help?

Here are some ideas to move Edinburgh towards becoming a regenerative festival city. While we are fairly well informed local residents with some relevant expertise among us, we're very aware that there will be a lot going on that we don't know about, and that many of these ideas may already be in progress - see points 1 and 5!

1. There is sure to be a lot of relevant activity already happening in Edinburgh – there's a huge opportunity to learn from what's working and to support, spread and scale those approaches.

2. We should learn from the ways in which other festivals and tourist destinations are tackling similar issues.

3. Include high profile “low brow” cultural events to make the festival more welcoming to more of the population.

4. Make a greater effort to improve infrastructure and capacity. If it seemed like Edinburgh could cope with the massive influx of visitors, residents are likely to be more supportive.

5. Gather, publish and disseminate data in accessible ways (eg infographics) about the festivals, attendance, participation, and where the money goes.

6. All organisations involved in the festivals should listen more deeply to a wide range of people about their experiences and feelings about the festival and it relationship with the city.

7. Hold a retrospective meeting after the festival each year to understand how it went, what’s working, what could be improved, with input from a range of stakeholders and the results shared widely.

8. Convene a Citizens Assembly on the festival, bringing together a representative sample of residents to hear evidence and make recommendations about future developments.

9. Add a feature in the Fringe programme to highlight and find shows by locally based performers etc. This would boost local talent and help visitorts to connect with local cultural activity.

10. Explain and promote the process for putting on a show to local groups; make it easier, clearer and cheaper for residents.

11. More action by festival organisers, major venues and related businesses to procure local products and services, including from social enterprises.

12. More festival related organisations to pay the Living Wage.

What's next?

As we wrapped up, one of the participants said:

We're one of the world's biggest and highest profile festivals. We can lead the way in how things can be done and how the festivals could be better for residents and visitors.

Of course, it's easy for a group of well meaning people to get together and come up with some ideas. We don't have to get elected, run financially viable venues or shows, and deal with all practicalities that enable the festival to happen.

But what struck me most from this conversation was the sense of connection to, and care for, the city and the festival, and a sense of vision and genuine enthusiasm about the idea of Edinburgh as a regenerative festival city.

I'd love to continue this conversation in some way, this time including people from organisations involved with, or wanting to influence, the festival and its relationship with the city and residents.

If that could be you and this strikes a chord, let's have a chat!

Header photo by George Piskov