The chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society has robustly defended its sponsorship by Baillie Gifford, after the investment management firm cancelled all of its sponsorship deals with literary festivals across the UK following protests over its links to Israel and fossil fuel companies.
Shona McCarthy said arts festivals were operating in a “fevered environment” in which “everybody has to make their own decisions with the information that they have at hand”. She revealed that the board of the Fringe Society – the charity that underpins the Edinburgh festival fringe – had voted “overwhelmingly” in support of sticking with its partnership with Baillie Gifford after “really detailed discussion”.
