EDINBURGH'S world-famous Festival and Fringe must be cancelled now as Covid-19 fears grow, a city councillor claims.
The biggest cultural celebration of its kind in the world, the summer extravaganza is also a keystone of the capital's economy.
But Councillor Ashley Graczyk says bosses of both arts events must axe their 2020 programmes now.
She told The National: "The Scottish Government has already advised that all mass gatherings over 500 people should be cancelled. We cannot, in all conscience, plan for a petri dish of performances with thousands of people in close contact on an hourly basis in four and a half months’ time.
"Euro 2020 will be postponed or cancelled altogether. As we know, the Edinburgh Festivals, with their 4million-plus visitors, are in third place globally after the World Cup and Olympic Games in terms of visitor numbers. It is totally irresponsible to continue to plan for a mass influx of millions of people from all over the globe in the current conditions."
The independent politician says the costs and planning time needed for performers and audiences must be taken into account.
According to official estimates put together in 2015, the annual arts fair is worth £312million, with the average attendee spending another £195m in the capital.
But last year the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) insisted that figure was way off, putting the true value at around £1billion. This includes £500m in direct spending and another £560m thanks to a "multiplier effect" that can be felt outwith the capital.
More than 2800 local jobs are understood to depend on it, plus another 3400 across the country.
Graczyk's comments come as Francesca Hedgyi, executive director of the Edinburgh International Festival, announces the postponement of tomorrow's programme launch. She said: "It is important to emphasise that we are still planning to deliver a festival this August but we think it best to wait a number of weeks before launching our programme.
"We are working as quickly as we can to provide certainty to everyone. Our focus remains on presenting the festival and getting artists back on our stages and audiences back into concert halls and theatres as soon as it is safe to do so. Please bear with us whilst we navigate staging this international festival at a particularly unusual time."
Fiona McCarthy, chief executive of the Edinburgh International Fringe Society, has said she is "optimistic that the festival will continue" but pledged to "limit the financial impact across the whole Fringe as much as we possibly can" if it must be called off due to a "dramatic" change in circumstances.
But Graczyk said: "Assuming we avoid a mass outbreak akin to Italy, scientific estimates put the virus peak in June with significant numbers of cases through the summer and autumn. That’s if containment measures are effective and if we are successful in ‘flattening the curve’ and delaying the spread of the disease.
"Any introduction of additional risk factors during this period – such as the influx of millions of potentially contagious visitors – is simply unthinkable, and would inevitably lead to a second wave of cases. We cannot add any additional burden to our NHS which must focus on saving lives."
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