BEMIS Scotland, Scotland on Tour and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society are delighted to announce the launch of a unique events fund entitled the ‘Multicultural Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’.
With support from Scotland on Tour £50,000 will be distributed between 10 unique multicultural fringe events led by minority ethnic communities, musicians and singers. Each of these fringe events will be supported with grants of £5,000 each to create and produce small festival and concert celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe celebrates its 75th anniversary in August 2022. Since 1947, it has grown to be globally recognised as the most important open access festival for the performing arts, which aims to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat. Equity is a key pillar of the Fringe so that who you are and where you are from are not a barrier to attending or performing at the Edinburgh Fringe.
In this celebratory year, ethnic minority community led national membership umbrella organisation BEMIS Scotland have teamed up with Scotland on Tour and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to facilitate a small grants package to provide an opportunity for Scotland’s diverse multicultural organisations to deliver bespoke fringe festival events in their own communities.
Over the last two weekends in September, 10 festival / concert projects will be supported across Scotland. The events will be open to the public, announced in early August and a launch event will take place at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2022.
If you are interested in applying for the fund and hosting a Festival Fringe event via a mini festival or concert then you can access the fund guidance and application form here: bemis.org.uk/fringe
Shona McCarthy, CEO of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society commented
Today’s funding announcement will give communities across Scotland the unique opportunity to participate in our 75th anniversary celebrations through the creation of their own fringe event. We look forward to working with the team at BEMIS as this project evolves and look forward to enjoying new performances this autumn.
Lisa Whytock of Scotland on Tour outlined where this new partnership will help build new relationships and opportunities between existing Scotland on Tour events and Scotland’s diverse minority ethnic communities
Creating new opportunities for artists and communities are central to Scotland on Tour. We are already supporting over 300 new concerts and are delighted to be teaming up with both BEMIS and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to create even more opportunities in our communities. Scotland is a rich and diverse nation brimming with culture and we look forward to supporting the development of ten new festival fringe events as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations.
Rami Ousta, CEO of BEMIS Scotland outlined the importance of celebrating cultural diversity in Scotland as we strive towards the inclusive of goal of enhancing and fostering an ‘inclusive national identity’.
BEMIS Scotland recognise the importance of celebrating diverse intangible cultural heritage in our ambition to make Scotland an inclusive, responsive and culturally dynamic society. Our minority ethnic communities in Scotland are blessed with incredible musical, singing and other artistic talents. We have been fortunate to work with the Scottish Government since 2014 on the Themed Years and Scottish Winter Festivals Programme. In 2015 we initiated a new partnership with Celtic Connections, Scotland international music festival to facilitate practical opportunities for domestic minority artists based in Scotland to participate. The opportunity to bring this expertise and opportunity to the incredible Edinburgh Fringe via our partners at Scotland on Tour is an exciting opportunity. We look forward to working with communities and musicians to help programme 10 exciting events to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival.
To apply for funding please visit bemis.org.uk/fringe
