The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) hosts its next InnovationNation public lecture – InnovationArts – on Monday 3 August, with the latest instalment featuring the CEOs of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society and the Edinburgh International Festival.
In the week that both festivals begin, Kath M Mainland CBE (Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society) and Fergus Linehan (Festivals Director and CEO of the Edinburgh International Festival) will address the work that goes on behind the scenes to keep Edinburgh’s Festivals on top on the world stage.
While the EICC has been a venue for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society for over a decade, 2015 marks the first year in which the venue will host two of the Edinburgh International Festival’s (EIF) four headline shows, which will take over the Lennox Suite for the duration of August.
The EICC’s Chief Executive, Marshall Dallas, said: “Edinburgh’s Festivals are part of the very fabric of the city and we are immensely pleased to be hosting a diverse mix of shows from both the Fringe and the International Festivals in August. We’re also delighted that Kath and Fergus have taken time out at such a busy time of the year for our series of public lectures.
InnovationNation celebrates the best of innovation in Scotland and Edinburgh’s Festivals have had to innovate to keep their place at the top of global arts gatherings. It will be fascinating to get hear about the challenges and opportunities that go with running cultural events on this kind of scale.”
Kath M Mainland CBE, CEO of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “I’m delighted to be taking part in the InnovationNation series at the EICC with Fergus Linehan as we approach the start of the 2015 Fringe and Festival. The Fringe is built on the entrepreneurial spirit of many creative individuals and has had to continually innovate to maintain its success. I’ll give some examples of that, as well as talking about the challenges associated with running an open access organisation.”
Fergus Linehan, Festivals Director and CEO of the Edinburgh International Festival, said: “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to speak alongside Kath Mainland at this EICC InnovationNation lecture. As well as reflecting on the way the Festival has responded to the changing worlds of media and communications, I will be looking at how some of our 2015 artists have harnessed technology to enhance existing performance techniques as well as inventing entirely new forms.”
Submitted by Jill Spink
