The Edinburgh TV Festival, held in Scotland’s capital city for 50 years, has been relocated to Greater Manchester. The festival was an opportunity for prominent figures of the TV industry and hopefuls trying to break into the business to come together in the same place. They could share in the love of television, make connections, and inspire each other. The final TV Festival here in Edinburgh was held from 25 August to 28 August, and featured big names in TV such as Gary Lineker, Amelia Dimoldenberg, and Gary Oldman.
Held in the last week of the Fringe, the TV Festival was a brilliant way of bringing together the worlds of television and the performing arts. There has long been a connection between works of the stage and television media. These mediums may seem very different as live performances are special because they cannot be rewatched and endlessly picked apart, whereas TV is often made with the intention of being revisited as many times as possible. However many iconic British TV shows like Taskmaster, Fleabag, and Baby Reindeer got their start at the Fringe – showing how important this link between stage and TV is in giving creativity a new life in a different form. While all these examples of Fringe shows held the same themes and ideas when they became TV shows, they inevitably had to change to adapt to their new medium. Due to this important relationship between stage and screen, young creatives may worry what this relocation could mean. Many TV commissioners that would have been in Edinburgh for the festival anyway may end up watching Fringe plays possibly giving up-and-coming artists the chance to break into the TV industry.
The reason for this relocation comes down to the costs of living and staying in Edinburgh. The charity that runs the TV festival initially contemplated the move because, with Edinburgh being one of the most expensive UK cities for tourists, they were concerned about the accessibility of the festival. While titans of the industry would be unaffected, many smaller creatives could be rendered unable to attend the event as travel, accommodation, and cost of living in the city is just too high. A ticket for the event could cost around £1500, with these prices limiting the demographic of who can benefit from the festival before they even make it to through the door. However this problem remains whether the festival relocates or not as for many local Edinburgh creatives it may now be too expensive to make the trip to Greater Manchester. Many people spend money for the ticket as an investment in their futures and careers, but the fact that such a sacrifice has to be made in order to get a chance in the TV community begs a different question: has it become too expensive to be creative?
While it’s free to create art for yourself, the time we have to do so seems to keep becoming more scarce and more costly. For many students, between university work, social lives, society responsibilities, and possibly also part-time jobs, being creative becomes an afterthought. While Edinburgh has, for generations, been seen as a birthplace of great artists and creatives, the relocation of this festival may suggest a shift in Edinburgh’s finger on the pulse of the culture. This move reflects a larger issue with the contemporary art scene in that for most people it is far too expensive to even begin. Getting a foot in the door is harder than ever, and the Edinburgh TV Festival’s move to Greater Manchester shows that perhaps the price of pursuing the contemporary arts is just too high.
Image by Mark Chan for The Student.
