Edinburgh International Festival Forced to Cancel Annual Fireworks Display Due to Lack of Funding
The Edinburgh International Festival will be bidding farewell to its iconic firework display due to a lack of funding.
The festival had been hosting the display for the past 40 years, but is unable to find a sponsor for this year’s event.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the festival had to cancel the firework display for the past three years, disappointing the hundreds of thousands of spectators who usually attend.
A spokesperson for the festival said: “The Edinburgh International Festival won’t be staging the fireworks in 2023, the event has always been dependent on a major sponsor and unfortunately we do not have one to support the event this year.
“We will be speaking with the other August festivals and the City of Edinburgh to see what form a large-scale closing event might take, to replace the fireworks.”
However, this news will be well-received by those who oppose the use of fireworks for safety and environmental reasons.
Julie Doorne, organiser at The Firework Campaign UK said: “I think two or three years down the line people won’t even remember having fireworks. They’re not even going to worry about it. I think immediately there will be a few people who say why are you stopping it. Generally, they stop it for financial reasons, they don’t stop putting on fireworks for how it effects people or animals.
“I think for safety and for people and animals who are adversely affected by fireworks it would be better if they stopped selling to the general public.”
Fireworks can also have a negative impact on the environment as they release smoke and greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
Mrs Doorne said: “Environmentally fireworks are not good either. People still aren’t recycling properly so they’re not going to be worrying about that for the time being. It will be an issue in the end.
“The government are hot on antisocial at the moment. Talking about the laughing gas cannisters and getting them off the streets. There will be thousands more people affected by antisocial firework use, during the ‘season’ which is virtually all of winter.”
