Meeting of the Parliament 06 January 2015
I welcome the opportunity to take part in this debate on Scotland’s winter festivals and, like others who have spoken, I wish all members a happy new year.
While reflecting on the success of the events, I also want to consider the opportunities that the hosting of such events provides—and not only the opportunity to have a party on a dark night, which Stewart Stevenson mentioned, or, indeed, the opportunities for procreation that he implied.
I have the privilege of representing one of the areas that held one of the first events of the current programme. I speak, of course, of the four-day celebration that took place in St Andrews around St Andrew’s day, which Claire Baker has already referred to. For a town with a population of approximately 9,000, not including the student population—or approximately 16,700, including students—to accommodate some 2,000 spectators on the final day of activities, including performances by people such as Eddi Reader and the switching on of the town’s Christmas lights, is impressive, to say the least.
Although I have no doubt that the celebrations in St Andrews would have been a success regardless of whether additional funding had been provided by the Government, I am sure that the town’s share of the £315,000 for winter festivals was gratefully received.
St Andrews has been a popular tourist destination for a long time, but it requires continued investment and attention to ensure that that success continues. The town is sometimes referred to as the jewel in the crown of Fife and is a haven for many foreign and domestic tourists, particularly golfers. To that extent, for the town and its surrounding area, events such as the St Andrew’s day celebrations are something of a bonus but are a very useful addition to the local economy and something that the local economy needs to keep ticking over.
The celebrations in St Andrews encompass the St Andrews food and drink festival, which helps to promote the local food and drink sector. As we all know, St Andrews, like many places in north-east Fife, has an excellent reputation for top-quality food and drink. Viewers of the most recent BBC series of “MasterChef” will know what I am talking about. The winner of the 2014 series, Jamie Scott, is an Arbroath man who works at the Rocca bar and grill in St Andrews, and the runner-up in the 2013 series, Scott Davies, is a chef at the Adamson restaurant in the town. In addition, two chefs from the Fairmont hotel, which is just outside St Andrews, have featured in two recent finals. We have quite a reputation for food and drink.
Scotland’s winter festivals, therefore, are not just a series of events in their own right but act as an advert for Scotland’s year of food and drink and provide an opportunity for areas that are hosting events to showcase themselves for the year ahead. I am certain that my constituency will be up there with the best of them, given its fine history of being a purveyor of good food and drink. I also hope that St Andrews will reaffirm its excellent reputation as a tourist destination in time for the Open golf championship later this year.
I conclude with a statistic. Information from the Scottish Government shows that attendance at cultural events and places reached 89.6 per cent of the adult population in 2012 according to the most recent data available. That includes attendance at places such as libraries, live music events, cinemas and theatres. I am pleased that attendance at cultural events in the town may increase this year following the successful reopening of the Byre theatre in the latter part of 2014 after a deal was reached with the university.
Scotland’s winter festivals helped to close 2014, but I am sure that the festival events that are still to take place will help to kick off 2015 with a bang. Indeed, Burns night is almost upon us and I am sure that it is eagerly awaited in Dumfries and elsewhere.