Edinburgh launches new media event after final TV Festival

Plans for a new Scottish event to replace the Edinburgh TV Festival have been launched.

The industry festival – which ends on Friday – will move to Manchester next year after 50 years in the capital.

But Screen Scotland, the Scottish government and the other Edinburgh Festivals say it is too important to lose.

Speaking at a launch event in Edinburgh, Culture Secretary Màiri McAllan, revealed details of a new initiative which would build on the city's unique position as a global shop window for talent, content and creative ideas.

"We are so proud of Scotland's screen sector," she said. "And this exciting addition to the August festivals line-up will provide a new way to embrace the creativity and cultural innovation which makes our capital unique."

Initial research has already been undertaken with further consultation continuing under former TV festival creative director Rowan Woods.

It is hoped that a pilot version of the new festival will run in August 2027, and that it will be expanded to include those who consume content as well as those who make it.

McAllan said when she was first appointed culture secretary after the election in May, one of the first meetings she had was about the Edinburgh TV Festival.

"There was a collective disappointment about its departure but almost as soon as I was briefed on its departure, I was told 'don't worry minister, we're already on it. We will work together and move on'."

She said she was delighted to announce details of a new TV and screen festival for Edinburgh to sit alongside all the other festivals in August.

Richard Gadd, whose hit Netflix show Baby Reindeer was first discovered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe told the event his first experience of the Fringe was with his school when they saw a production of Black Watch which was first staged there in 2006.

Four years later, he made his own debut with his solo show 6 And Half A 7 which was staged in a bar. Sometimes the audience was just one person, and he would just buy them a drink.

Later shows were more successful, including Monkey See, Monkey Do in 2016 which won him the Edinburgh Comedy award, and Baby Reindeer in 2019 which led to interest from TV executives from Netflix, BBC, C4 and HBO.

"Everything I have in my life, I owe to this festival, not just the chance to meet agents and producer writers but going full time as a writer," he said.

"A chance to experiment and take risks - to fail spectacularly and come back the next night to start again.

"If the fringe becomes too expensive, too commercial, we could lose the very thing which makes it extraordinary. We could lose the place where someone can arrive with an idea and leave with a career. "

Gadd pointed out that Fleabag, Taskmaster, Six the Musical, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Stomp, Flight of the Conchords, Garth Merengue, Alan Partridge, Mr Bean, The League of Gentlemen, Jerry Springer the Opera, Operation Mincemeat, The Mighty Boosh and Black Watch all began there.

"This is so much more than a festival," he said. "It's the cultural backbone of the whole country, the world even, and we must protect it at all costs so everyone who dares to step out their front door and call themselves an artist can be given the same opportunity that I was."

The TV festival began as the Edinburgh Television Drama festival in 1976 – a spin-off from the city's international film festival – founded by its director Linda Myles and Gus MacDonald, a former Granada TV executive.

Myles, the first woman to direct a major film festival was keen to spark ideas and debate about a rapidly changing industry.

Key to its success was its timing in the final week of the world's largest arts festival which allowed delegates to network, while also "shopping" the city for fresh ideas, talent and shows.

As well as Baby Reindeer, Fleabag was first performed as a theatre show before being developed by the BBC, as was Hannah Gadsby's show Nanette in 2017 before being developed by Netflix.

The various comedy awards handed out in the final week, also offer a shortlist for those attending the TV festival.

Since 2001, the TV festival has been run by an independent foundation based in London.

It attracts more than 2,000 delegates and retains some of the original features such as the MacTaggart lecture – named after the ground-breaking drama producer James MacTaggart who had died two years before.

Over the years, it has been delivered by Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner, Vince Gallagher and David Attenborough.

TV dramatist and writer Dennis Potter used his moment in 1993 to lash out at the BBC's director general John Birt and chairman Marmaduke Hussey, calling them "croak-voiced Daleks" who had a cold and impersonal approach to TV writing.

Presenter Amol Rajan used his Alternative Mactaggart to urge the UK government to "stop dithering" about the BBC's funding structure.

The main lecture was delivered by Pedro Pina, Vice President of YouTube, who gave a reminder about the vast changes in the TV landscape since the festival first began.

But the wider festival ecosystem has also changed.

Concerns over affordability, accessibility and sustainability led to an offer to other UK cities to bid for the chance to host.

Edinburgh repeated its offer but was beaten by Manchester which will host the TV festival from 2027. Details of timings (since it no longer has to coincide with the last weeks of the festivals) and programme have yet to be announced.

There are few details about the Scottish replacement either, except that the consultation will be led by Rowan Woods and will be funded by Screen Scotland and delivered through the Fringe Society.

It is thought the ambition is to create an event which is not industry only, but opens out guest speakers who have included Shonda Rimes, Tina Fey and Gary Oldman, to audiences.

It will also expand its vision beyond traditional film and television output towards global content industries. Scotland has seen expanded interest in recent years with productions such as Outlander (Sony/Starz) and Dept Q (Netflix).

Separately, Screen Scotland plans to establish a new debate in honour of Linda Myles, who co-created that first TV festival.

The Linda Myles Debate will recognise her long-standing belief that Edinburgh is the place for rigorous debate around the screen industries.

"I'm deeply touched and honoured to have the debate named after me," she said.

"It's exciting to see the importance of ideas and discussion being recognised in the plans for the new event, especially as this was the initial intention of the creation of the Edinburgh Television Festival in 1976."