By Martin Williams
A CAMPAIGN to “reimagine” Scotland’s capital has gained new impetus in the wake of a row over how the UK’s biggest New Year street party is being organised and concern the appetite for tourism is reducing the city to a “theme park”.
Edinburgh welcomed tens of thousands of people to this year’s Hogmanay celebrations amid criticism of the three-day event’s organisers, Underbelly, for creating “unnecessary confusion” for residents in the affected area as they need passes to access their homes during the celebration.
The celebrations “hosted by” Johnnie Walker whisky feature performances by Mark Ronson, Marc Almond and Idlewild and culminate in the traditional firework display.
But there was growing concern that residents were required to apply for wristbands to access their own homes, with a potential limit to numbers.
On their website, Underbelly had stated that residents would be “entitled to receive up to six resident passes” and a “reasonable number of additional access passes may be issued”.
Underbelly co-founder and director Ed Bartlam slammed criticism of the access process for residents during the Hogmanay street party as a “red herring and a mis-truth”.
But the Underbelly Hogmanay “fiasco” has been leapt on by the newly formed Citizen group, which aims to promote community-led projects to defend the city against unwelcome development.
It said it is to take action next year through a series of events “bringing people together who want to reclaim and reimagine the city”.
It said that since the latest controversy, they have been inundated with hundreds of requests from people to join.
In a message to supporters, Mike Small of Citizen, who has said Hogmanay has become a “hollowed-out cultural experience” with Edinburgh “reduced to a theme park”, says the latest issues are not new. He added: “Hogmanay is a time for New Year’s resolutions – ours is let’s reclaim our city from hidden networks and businesses carving up Edinburgh for profit.”
There was further concern this year when a giant Christmas tree on the Mound was felled and a nearby nativity sculpture removed and replaced with a series of Johnnie Walker figures. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh said it was “disappointed” at the move.
Last month, Edinburgh’s council leader ordered urgent action after memorial benches were moved and piled up to make way for the capital’s Christmas market. The benches were dumped at the edge of the market in East Princes Street Gardens.
They are understood to have cost thousands of pounds and families donate them to the park in memory of loved ones. Christmas market operator Underbelly said they were handled respectfully.
The Edinburgh Hotels Association has also said it wants an urgent rethink of how the the city is promoted globally in the wake of the row over the Hogmanay event and the Christmas festival.
The Christmas market, which is also run by Underbelly and has taken over an expanded site across Princes Street Gardens for its six-week run, attracting around 100,000 visitors a day, has already been the source of controversy this year. Edinburgh World Heritage, the organisation charged with protecting the city’s status as a Unesco site, said it should be scaled back, as it “clearly disrupts this magnificent environment to a very great extent”.
There has been further criticism on social media over the £12 charge – including a £2 booking fee – to take part in the annual New Year’s Day Loony Dook in which people dive into the freezing waters of the Firth of Forth at South Queensferry, often in fancy dress.
The registration fee was introduced when it became part of the Edinburgh Hogmanay Festival from 2011. The fee – at first £6 – was introduced to cover the cost of organisation and stewarding.
It was raised to £10 in 2016 and is now £12 with an amount from every ticket going to the RNLI.
But Mr Bartlam of Underbelly said that Hogmanay brings £40 million into the city and added: “There is a wider conversation going on in Edinburgh at the moment around the impact of festivals and the vast majority of people in Edinburgh understand the cultural, social and economic benefit of amazing festivals like Hogmanay.
“There are some who feel that there are too many of these and are potentially using some suggestions of residents not being allowed access, which is untrue, as a way of pushing that view.”
The organisers have, however, acknowledged there had been “misunderstandings” and rewrote website guidance following the backlash, which now reads: “If you are planning a private function within your home or you are entertaining guests or you have a household larger than six, additional access passes are available.”
Edinburgh City Council leader Adam McVey said the event had been affected by “poor communication”, adding: “It is unacceptable that the guidance for residents didn’t accurately reflect this, creating unnecessary confusion.”
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