THE economic impact of an East Lothian music festival has topped £1 million for the first time.
The 2024 Lammermuir Festival also welcomed its largest audience to date with more than 7000 attendances, an increase of 13% on last year. A total of 72% of this audience came from Edinburgh and the Lothians and 28% from elsewhere in Scotland, the rest of the UK and abroad, showing an increase in the proportion of bookers travelling to the festival.
The economic benefits increased as the county welcomed more people to stay overnight in paid accommodation, supporting the hospitality sector and contributing to an overall economic impact of £1.1m, an increase in impact of 23% on 2023.
This September’s programme of 38 concerts across 15 locations in East Lothian presented 300 internationally acclaimed musicians including the ensemble Concerto Copenhagen, choral group Tenebrae, Scottish Opera and American pianist Jeremy Denk.
The festival also offered its broadest range of ticket prices and offers to date, including free tickets for seven to 18-year-olds, half-price tickets for anyone aged 16 plus in full-time education and 100 tickets for local secondary school children to experience performances up close through Front Row, a new initiative to bring more young people into concert-going. Front Row is a partnership with East Lothian Instrumental Service supported by the SCOPS Arts Trust.
James Waters, festival director said: “We are absolutely delighted to confirm that the economic impact of this year’s festival for East Lothian and for Scotland was so much higher than in 2023.
“We could sense the huge show of support and turn-out at concerts but to learn the scale of spend it brought in benefits to the area is fantastic.
“We are already in advanced planning for our 2025 festival which opens on September 4 and we hope that audiences will return, bring friends with them and continue to spread the joy and benefit of this festival to many.”
Muir Russell, festival chair said this year’s programme was the strongest yet.
“Thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, donors and friends and Creative Scotland and Event Scotland’s contributions, we provided another unique, rich cultural experience of the kind that Lammermuir has become famous for and which benefits this area so strongly,” he said.
Several concerts from this year’s Lammermuir Festival were recently broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and can now be found on BBC Sounds.
