City and Crowd

The Edinburgh Festivals

Course 5 · Chapter 7 · The City and the Crowd

So far the course has treated the festivals as things that happen in Edinburgh. For the people who live and work there, they are also things that happen to Edinburgh: the Royal Mile blocked with flyers, rents that jump in August, buses that cannot be boarded and a month of noise. This chapter turns from the programmes to the city itself. It looks at accommodation and short lets, crowding and the idea of overtourism, the people who work in the festival month, and the problem of working out who gains and who pays. Names, laws and figures are from general knowledge and flagged "check".

Where Everyone Sleeps

The August squeeze

For a month the city has to house performers, crew, critics and many thousands of visitors, in a compact centre with a limited stock of hotels and flats (check the numbers). Prices in August are far above normal, which has long been a complaint.

Short-term lets

Rented flats advertised on holiday platforms have grown in the city since the 2010s, and critics argue they take housing from residents and push up rents (check the scale). Supporters say they help visitors and give owners an income.

The performers' problem

Accommodation is one of the largest costs for Fringe performers, and many report losing money after paying for housing, venue fees and publicity (check surveys on this, Chapter 3).

  • Rules. The Scottish Government introduced a licensing scheme for short-term lets in 2022, and the City of Edinburgh Council was able to designate a "control area" in which planning permission is needed to turn a home into a short let (check the dates, the details and the legal challenges).
  • Student halls. University accommodation is used as festival housing in the summer, a use that is helpful to visitors but that depends on the academic calendar (check).

Crowds and "Overtourism"

Issue (check each)What residents and visitors report
The Old TownPavements and closes crowded with visitors, performers and flyer distributors, so that getting about on foot or by bus is slow.
Noise and wasteLate-night noise, litter and street cleaning needs rise in the festival weeks.
ServicesPressure on public transport, toilets and the emergency services, with temporary measures put in place by the council.
Everyday lifeSome residents leave the city or rent out their homes during August, which is both a sign of the problem and part of the short-let market.
Tourism overallThe festival month sits on top of a large year-round tourist trade, so it is difficult to separate festival crowding from general visitor numbers (check).
Overtourism: a label, not a measurement "Overtourism" is used for places where visitor numbers are felt to exceed what residents or the place can bear. It is a judgement as much as a figure, since no agreed number defines it (check). A careful account asks what is being measured (visitors, nights, spending, complaints), whose view is being counted, and how the festival period compares with the rest of the year.

Who Works and Who Pays

  • Seasonal workers. Bar, hotel, venue and technical staff are needed in large numbers for a short period, often on temporary contracts and with long hours (check conditions and pay).
  • Volunteers and interns. Some festival jobs are unpaid or low-paid, which raises questions about who can afford to work in the arts (check).
  • Venues and landlords. The festival month is the main income of some venues and a source of rent for property owners, and the costs of hiring a room can be a barrier for performers (Chapter 3).
  • Small businesses. Cafés, restaurants and shops gain from the extra custom, though some report that high rents and the shift of locals out of the centre offset the gain (check).

Paying for the Pressure

  • A visitor levy. Scotland passed legislation in 2025 allowing councils to charge a levy on overnight accommodation, and Edinburgh planned to introduce a charge on stays, with the revenue to be spent on tourism-related services (check the dates, the rate and whether it has started).
  • The argument. Supporters say visitors should contribute to the cost of services they use. Critics, including some in the hotel trade and the festivals, fear higher prices will discourage visitors, and ask whether the money will reach the arts (check).
  • The wider debate. The levy belongs with the questions in Chapter 8 about funding and who is responsible for the festival's costs.
A British comparison Compare the pressure on Bath, York or the Lake District, and on Venice, Barcelona or Amsterdam abroad, where residents have campaigned against tourism and short lets (check the examples). Edinburgh is unusual in having an intense, dated peak, so its problems come in a concentrated month as well as year-round.
Check the details Laws, council decisions and figures on lets, visitors and housing change quickly and are used by both sides of the argument. Check the current position against council papers, Scottish Government pages and independent studies, and notice who commissioned each study.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Explain how short-term lets are said to affect Edinburgh, giving the argument of someone who sees them as a problem and of someone who sees them as an advantage.

→ Solution
Exercise 2

Choose a claim that the festival month causes "overtourism" and list the evidence you would gather to test it, including what to compare it with.

→ Solution
Exercise 3

Make a simple table of who gains and who pays from the festival month, with at least five groups, and mark which entries are well documented.

→ Solution

Quick Reference

  • Housing: August squeeze; short-term let licensing from 2022 (check)
  • Crowds: Old Town congestion, noise, waste and services (check)
  • Workers: seasonal staff, volunteers, venues and small businesses
  • Levy: a visitor charge allowed by 2025 legislation (check the status)
  • The caution: "overtourism" is a judgement, not a measurement