I was encouraged to hear the Scottish Government budget announcement yesterday outlining plans to increase culture funding by 34million in 2025/26, after so many years of stagnating or reduced funding.
This week we also announced the programme for Manipulate Festival in 2025 and I could not be prouder of all the artists, companies and partners we're collaborating with to bring you this brilliant festival edition. There's a feast of delights to get your teeth into and so please do check out the programme.
I do think though, that it's really important to acknowledge that our festival programme for 2025 is about a quarter of the size of the 2024 programme (although interestingly for just over half the usual cost, because festival overheads are significant). This is because, after 12 years of standstill core funding, a real-terms 40% cut, we just can't afford to put on an international festival every year.
Great arts and culture doesn't happen without effective resourcing. This is even more true if we want to do things properly, ensuring that wellbeing, fair pay, sustainable thinking and great access provision are at the heart of our work.
In response to the ongoing Scottish arts funding crisis this year, which has hit the freelance creative workforce the hardest, we have responded by taking money allocated for international flights and freight at our festival and re-investing it into the Scottish creative community. We'll be paying for research and development into new creative projects for artists at a critical juncture in their practice, and then bringing them together with audiences in open studio sessions, to make transparent what it really takes to develop a creative work for the stage.
It's a tough decision as a festival director to say no to some of the incredible and boundary-pushing international work I've seen on stages around the world, which undoubtedly would thrill and delight audiences. But I believe that we're in danger of losing so many brilliant freelance creatives from the Scottish sector and the truth is that our work makes absolutely no sense without them.
Our festivals are often spoken about solely in terms of their economic, tourism and international exchange benefits, but to truly thrive they must also be fuelled by grassroots creativity which is created, trained and developed in Scotland, and offer a vital platform for Scottish work on the international stage.
We will be grappling with these ideas through discussions at the festival in February, exploring what truly sustainable Scottish festivals which properly serve their artistic and geographic communities could look like with proper resourcing.
We'll also have two world premieres of fantastic new Scottish work, over 30 animated films, three shortform performance evenings of innovative new work and a whole host of other workshops, screenings and events to explore. I really hope to see you there.
🌙 Manipulate Festival 2025 | 18th edition
Wed 12 - Sat 15 February 2025
🎙 Here’s a wee introduction from our Artistic Director and CEO, Dawn Taylor, of what’s in store.
Find the full programme and book tickets now:
https://lnkd.in/ew7mRcVA
Supported by Creative Scotland and Film Hub Scotland | 2025 Media Partner: The Skinny
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