EDINBURGH, Scotland — Tens of thousands of people are flocking to Scotland’s capital for today’s launch of the Edinburgh Fringe, one of the world’s largest and most colorful arts festivals.
They’re joined by some unwelcome visitors — increasing numbers of rats, encouraged by a six-week garbage collectors’ dispute that has filled Edinburgh with overflowing trash bins, takeaway cartons and vermin. Scotland’s Herald newspaper reported that calls to pest-control experts have surged since the dispute began June 25.
The Fringe — a three-week celebration of performance, standup, theater and music that bills itself as the world’s biggest arts festival — is one of the main events of Britain’s cultural calendar. It is the biggest in a group of arts festivals — including the Edinburgh Book Festival, the high-culture Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo — that draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Scottish capital every August.
It’s important that this year’s event is a success, and not just because Britain is suffering through its worst recession in decades. Last year, a computer failure brought chaos to the Fringe, the largest of a group of arts festivals that take over the Scottish capital every August. Ticket revenues plummeted, and the festival’s director resigned in disgrace.
Organizers hope this year will run more smoothly. But garbage collectors have been on a work slowdown for six weeks as part of a labor dispute, and local residents fear the uncollected trash and stench of rotting and overflowing bins will harm the city’s reputation.
“It’s been like the city has returned to the Middle Ages; all that’s missing is outbreak of the plague,” said Melanie Reid of the New Town, a part of the city built in the 18th and 19th century to allow the wealthy to escape the open sewers and filth of the Old Town. “Some of it has been cleaned up, but it’s still a mess in many places.
“It looks bad for the city. I don’t know what all these visitors will think.”
In the next few days, the garbage collectors’ union is expected to reveal the result of a secret ballot on whether to end or escalate the dispute over pay and conditions. Even if they go back to work, it will take days to clear the garbage from the streets.
Edinburgh Fringe spokesman Neil Mackinnon said festival staff “have our fingers crossed” that the dispute will be over soon.
Still, despite the strike, there is hope — ticket sales are up 21 percent at the Fringe on their previous record-breaking year of 2007 thanks to a weak pound against the euro and dollar and more Britons vacationing at home because of the economic crisis.
“Given the past problems with the ticket system last year, to have bounced back in such a fashion lays testament to the resilience to what is the world’s biggest arts extravaganza,” said Steve Cardownie of Edinburgh City Council.
At the highbrow International Festival, which starts Aug. 14, ticket sales are on a par with previous years and already some major shows are sold out including a Romanian production of Goethe’s “Faust.” Tickets for a new production by British choreographer Michael Clark depicting Lou Reed, David Bowie and Iggy Pop’s time in Berlin in the 1970s also are expected to sell out.
The big draw at the Aug. 15-31 Book Festival is Margaret Atwood, who will launch her new novel, “The Year of the Flood.”
Over the next four weeks, the Fringe, Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Book Festival will draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city and inject 150 million pounds ($252 million) into the Scottish economy, according to Edinburgh Council.
Roughly 20,000 performers will take part in 30,000 Fringe shows over the next three weeks, in venues ranging from theaters to pubs to a public toilet. Highlights include the first Edinburgh performances by U.S. comedian Janeane Garofalo, the return of highly touted British comic Laura Solon and a musical about Madonna’s attempts to adopt a Malawian child, performed by actors from the southern African country.
As for drama — look to the garbage dispute.
The garbage collectors’ union claims a new pay offer would cut average earnings from 18,000 pounds ($30,200) per year to 12,000 pounds ($20,000) and collectors have been on an overtime ban since late June.
On the Net: www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk
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