Festival City Volunteers

Since its birth in 1947, the Edinburgh Festival has grown to become a global phenomenon. In celebration of 2017 as the 70th anniversary year, a new Festival City Volunteer scheme was piloted during August. Inspired by the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Host City Volunteers programme, the project was delivered by partners including Festivals Edinburgh, Volunteer Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh Council, Lothian Buses, and Visit Scotland.

Over forty volunteers aged 18 to 81 took part, coming together from across Edinburgh’s communities to provide a warm welcome to visitors flocking to key festival sites around the capital.

The Festival City Volunteers pilot project featured in a presentation to the City Council’s Culture and Communities Committee on Tuesday 12 September. Julia Amour of Festivals Edinburgh was joined by Donald Smith of The Scottish International Storytelling Festival and Volunteer Edinburgh’s Marion Findlay along with two of the volunteers. Their presentation received a resounding round of applause from councillors who were won over by the volunteers’ compelling account of the project and its impact.

You can view the presentation on the City of Edinburgh Council Webcasts page in this link here which opens at the point where Cllr Donald Wilson introduces the Edinburgh Festivals presentation.