RECORD SMASHING YEAR FOR EDINBURGH’S CHRISTMAS
6 January 2015
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541,151 tickets were sold for shows and attractions at Edinburgh’s Christmas 2014/15
40.17% rise on ticket buyers since 2013/14
3.6 million people visited the Edinburgh Christmas sites, increasing footfall by 37.6%
on 2013
Footfall during the Edinburgh’s Christmas period was UP in the City Centre by 5.1%
and on Prince’s Street by 8.6% smashing the UK national average, expected to be
DOWN by up to 1%
Edinburgh’s Christmas has enjoyed a massive, record-busting year with more than half a million
visitors buying tickets for the festival’s many attractions – up by more than 40% on the previous year.
A total of more than 541,151 people paid to take part in this year’s festival, compared with last year’s
figure of 386,045, a year on year increase of 40.17%.
And the success doesn’t end with the numbers of tickets sold – with more than 3.6 million people
visiting the two major sites, Princes Street Gardens and St Andrew Square, during the run of the
Christmas festival, an increase of 37.6% on the 2013 festival, which had a footfall of 2,629,416.
The positive impact on city centre businesses is reinforced by figures released by Essential
Edinburgh, the company which runs the city centre Business Improvement District, which shows
footfall figures up in the Edinburgh Christmas period by 8.6% on last year in Princes Street, and by
15.6% at St Andrew Square (South St Andrew Street). In general, the city centre footfall figures were
up by more than 5.1% on the previous year, compared with an estimated UK average of -1% for the
same period (UK national figures are yet to be released for the period but based on weekly figures
which have been released, the average UK footfall is expected to down by up to 1%).
The figures have delighted the festival organisers. Charlie Wood of Underbelly, and producer of
Edinburgh’s Christmas, said: “We are obviously thrilled at the figures - over half a million people
bought tickets for shows and attractions at Edinburgh’s Christmas, which is equivalent to more than
10% of the entire population of Scotland.
“It demonstrates the scale and attraction of the festival. We set out to make Edinburgh’s Christmas
one of the world’s best places to be at Christmas time and these figures show that we’re on our way
to achieving that.
“As ever, we will be working in the next few months to see what worked well, what didn’t work so well,
and how we can improve the festival to make sure that next year’s is an even greater success for the
people of the city and visitors to the city to look forward to and enjoy. In particular, we want to work
with other areas of Edinburgh to involve them in Edinburgh’s Christmas and extend the benefits to
businesses and residents in those areas.”
Councillor Steve Cardownie, Edinburgh’s Festivals and Events Champion, said: “Our winter
festivals are the envy of the world and rightly so. This has been another record-breaking year, and the
huge boost to footfall is good news for city centre businesses and the local economy. I think residents
will agree that the programme was even bigger and better this year, and these results just go to prove
there is no place that can beat Edinburgh at Christmas.”
Andy Neal, Chief Executive of Essential Edinburgh, added: “We support Edinburgh’s Christmas
because it helps make our fantastic city centre an even better place to work, visit and live at a very
special and important time of the year.
“This year’s figures demonstrate the great value that high quality events bring to the city centre and
the businesses there – with large numbers of people coming to the area to take part.
“We will be talking with our levy-payers to see what aspects worked best for them, and which aspects
might need to be tweaked, but overall we should all acknowledge what has been a fantastic event.”
Ends
FURTHER INFORMATION
A selection of photos from Edinburgh’s Christmas can be found at: Edinburgh's Christmas 2014/15
Photo Selection
Further information please contact Fraser Smith, Head of Press, Underbelly on 07801 55 22 85.
fraser@underbelly.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. About Edinburgh’s Christmas funders and sponsors
The City of Edinburgh Council funds Edinburgh's Christmas and it is also supported by Essential
Edinburgh and Marketing Edinburgh.
Event Sponsors: Heineken UK, Diageo, Drambuie, Qatar Airways, LIDL, Thwaites, Transport for
Edinburgh, Aggreko, Thistly Cross Cider
Event Partners: Edinburgh Airport, Hotel Du Vin, Arnold Clark, Marketing Edinburgh, Essential
Edinburgh, Citroen Retail Group
Event Media Partners: Edinburgh Evening News, Forth 1, Forth 2, and The List.
2. Underbelly Limited
Underbelly is a UK based, live entertainment company. Their events and festivals division operates
one of the largest operations at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe selling over 250,000 tickets in 2014.
2015 will the seventh year of Udderbelly Festival at Southbank Centre and the fourth year of London
Wonderground at Southbank Centre. Elsewhere Underbelly also produces Edinburgh’s Christmas;
Comedy Hullabaloo with the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon; West End Live in Trafalgar Square for
Westminster City Council and the Society of London Theatre; and Pride in London. Through their
Underbelly Productions arm they produce and promote live shows in London, throughout the UK and
on tour internationally. In 2014, Underbelly sold over 1,000,000 tickets to their various events.
www.underbelly.co.uk