This weekend saw the kick off to the Edinburgh International Festival, an annual cultural extravaganza that is expected to bring record-breaking crowds to the capital this year.
But with the Royal Mile already bursting at the seams just a few days in and locals expressing concern over the strain on the city’s infrastructure, could Dundee be doing more to win a greater share of Scotland’s lucrative tourism industry?
The Edinburgh Festival began in 1947 and is now ranked as one of the most important cultural celebrations in the world, with only the Olympics and World Cup besting it for tickets sold.
Dundee may not be operating on that level yet but the city has seen fresh opportunities to stake its place on the global scene since the landmark opening of V&A Dundee last year.
Kengo Kuma’s masterpiece proved crowds are open to coming to the City of Discovery and a number of local firms have spoken of capitalising on the museum’s appeal by developing their own businesses to better attract visitors.
According to organisers, the Fringe alone is worth more than £200 million and supports thousands of jobs across Scotland. Businesses in Dundee should be crying out for a share of the action.
Last year The Courier revealed plans to establish Dundee as the centre of a six-week Creative Cities World Festival in 2022.
The event, which already has the backing of Unesco, would seek to attract visitors from all 180 cities across 72 countries in its Creative Cities network and become a showcase for each location.
The opportunities for Dundee as the centre of such a festival would be huge.
The opening of V&A Dundee shone a spotlight on what GQ described as “Britain’s coolest little city” and highlighted to the world’s media what many Dundonians had already known for years.
The Creative Cities festival would only increase that exposure.
Efforts to make the proposals a reality are ongoing but rely largely on winning the backing of the UK and Scottish governments.
The uncertainty of Brexit and a backdrop of constant constitutional upheaval make it hard to imagine how any major project could get over the line – but campaigners should not give up.
V&A Dundee and the waterfront regeneration have proved the city can land major projects. The response too has shown Scotland has a global appeal beyond the central belt.
Now it is time for policymakers to back Dundee’s bold ambitions.
