Friday August 8th 2025
Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Murray, at an event in Edinburgh's Filmhouse
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Joe Sullivan
Ian Murray has said the Fringe is doing better for the local community than in his youth as he signed a deal with the Fringe to promote Scottish culture overseas.
At an event in the recently reopened Filmhouse, the Scotland Secretary and Edinburgh South MP said the power of art and culture was something ‘we cannot take for granted’.
During his speech to assembled Festival supporters, Mr Murray said: “The reopening [of the filmhouse] has helped reconnect the people of this city with the culture for which it is famous around the world.
“The Filmhouse’s Outreach and Education team can now use the power of cinema to inspire young people across Edinburgh and across Scotland.
“While our city is rightly proud of its global cultural crowns, I know that for too many people the films, plays and performances that attract millions can feel out of touch and out of reach.
“And I know that because, growing up in Wester Hailes in the 1980s, the filmhouse and the festivals felt a lot further away than the four miles that separate them from my home town.
“The Edinburgh Festivals to us simply made the buses run late, and was what other people did.
“I think the festivals still make the buses run late – but it’s not [just] for other people.”
Mr Murray also explained his fond memories of the Fringe, including his experience organising live TV and online broadcast events from the festival in the past.
He recounted how one live event, including a performance by Nicola Benedetti on a stage in Princes Street Gardens, was panned by the press after the stage was damaged in a storm.
He said: “Nicola Benedetti performed under the glare of the castle to a sold-out crowd – what an incredible, inspiring show.
“But the night before, Edinburgh had faced gale-force winds – which you may have experienced this week – which blew out the back of stage panels.
“So her performance was punctuated by the horns of the passing trains from Waverley Station.
“Now, I thought that added to the percussion, I thought that’s what the Fringe was all about – the press didn’t think the same, the newspapers panned it for such an intervention.”
Actor Brian Cox was also in attendance, telling the audience that the Fringe needed to work on becoming less ‘chaotic’.
Mr Cox said: “One of the great things about the Fringe is the chaos. But the problem about chaos is that it’s chaotic.
“And it’s chaotic for the people who run various box offices. There’s a real lack of coordination going on, just practically, to make things function properly.
“Half the charm of Edinburgh is its chaos, but that’s only half the chaos. The charm is in the work, and how we see the work, and how the people pay for the work.
“There’s lots of box offices vying with one another, and there needs to be a sort of coordination with all of them to make a practical work of the Fringe.”
Mr Murray noted how £1.5 million in UK government funding had gone towards reopening the Filmhouse, and also pointed to £2m in funding provided to the King’s Theatre renovations.
The agreement between the government and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is part of the Brand Scotland initiative, which seeks to market Scotland abroad.
Mr Murray was recently in Berlin with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland for a “Symphony and Square Sausages” event as part of the scheme.
Speaking on the agreement, Mr Murray said: “For some, art and culture is a tool of power, of wealth. For others it is a tool of nation building, of defining who we are and who we are not.
“For me, it is something which transcends states and systems, and teaches us something about the human condition which other experiences simply cannot do.
“But that value, that treasure, that ability for our cultural pursuits to let us see into our souls and those around us is something we cannot take for granted.”
Tony Lankester, CEO of the Fringe Society, said: “The Edinburgh Fringe is arguably one of the UK’s finest cultural exports.
“This partnership gives us the opportunity to proudly put it at the heart of a global conversation.
“Putting the Fringe at the centre of Brand Scotland recognises that work, and opens up a world of new platforms for participants.”
Mr Murray told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that his first Fringe event was The Cuban Brothers at a venue in the Cowgate.
He explained the comedy quartet act, for those who didn’t see it, as ‘lots of trumpets’, saying the name of the group itself gave a good impression of their work.
And, his first ‘sit down’ act was Melvin Brown, at an event held on the site of the Radisson Blu hotel on the Royal Mile.
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