Edinburgh International Festival to continue Baillie Gifford partnership
Edinburgh International Festival will continue to receive financial support from asset manager Baillie Gifford despite protests against the firm’s alleged "unethical practices".
Festival director Nicola Benedetti told The Stage there was "nothing flippant about the decision" and that its leadership felt secure in opting to preserve the partnership in a moment where corporate sponsorship was less front-of-mind for the sector.
Benedetti also said that the financial fortunes of the festival were much-improved thanks to the confirmation of its multi-year funding settlement from Creative Scotland.
"Having that security of knowing exactly where we stand, with that chunk of money, is quite transformational for us," she declared.
EIF returns this year from 7th to 30th August, and will spotlight the US to mark 250 years since it declared independence.
Highlights of its theatre programme include Oscar-nominated actor Wagner Moura in The Trial – after an Enemy of the People, a modern-day continuation of Henrik Ibsen’s play, directed by Christiane Jatahy, and Internationaal Theater Amsterdam’s five-hour staging of Angels in America.
Benedetti confirmed that Baillie Gifford will continue to fund this year’s festival, despite controversy.
The investment management company is listed on EIF’s site as its supporting partner and The Stage understands it funds all elements of the festival, including its community engagement programmes.
EIF faced backlash against the partnership in 2024, with some culture workers raising "grave concerns" over the firm’s “significant investments in companies linked to unethical practices, including those involved in the Israeli occupation and arms trade, as well as fossil fuels”. Baillie Gifford has called such claims "seriously misleading".
High-profile protests against Baillie Gifford’s sponsorship of significant literary events prompted Hay Festival and Edinburgh International Book Festival to cut ties with the company, and caused worry among theatre festival bosses that corporate sponsors would be put off.
But Benedetti confirmed that EIF’s partnership with Baillie Gifford was ongoing, telling The Stage: "We have continued our relationship.
"It’s important to start by saying our board, our governors, our advisors, our team take these matters so unbelievably seriously."
She added: "There’s nothing flippant about the decision – we felt confident that it was a relationship that could continue."
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Benedetti also suggested that corporate sponsorship was less of a hot topic than it had been in the previous couple of years, contending that the sector was entering a period where it is "not the foremost focus".
Last year, Benedetti, who is also a classical violinist, told The Stage the EIF itself was under threat due to a lack of funding, with its finances "not in a great place".
This year, however, she told The Stage things had "got a lot better".
"Since this time last year, we’ve had our multi-year funding settlement confirmed. It wasn’t all we asked for from the government, but it wasn’t a bad result and, more importantly, it allows a firmer footing for us to be able to plan longer term."
Acknowledging sector-wide concerns about a lack of creative risk-taking, Benedetti said she was conscious of balancing public funding, earned income and philanthropic support equally so that the festival would not depend excessively on one funding stream.
"If we’re not careful, we’ll get to a point where the arts can’t take any risks anymore and we have to play it safe," she said.
"For us, the key to not allowing that to happen is to keep those three strands quite even, so that we’re not beholden to any one voice."
Baillie Gifford has strongly objected to claims that it invests in companies with unethical practices, including the Israeli arms trade.
However, it also stressed in 2024 that "it manages other people’s money, not [its] own".
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