Edinburgh’s Hogmanay could be part-funded by visitor levy – council leader

Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh could be supported by the new visitor levy, according to the city’s council leader.

The Scottish capital will in 2026 become the first city in the UK to charge a transient visitor levy similar to schemes in European cities such as Amsterdam, after councillors voted to approve it in August 2024.

Councillor Jane Meagher, leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, said she would be “surprised” if the so-called tourist tax, which will add 5% to accommodation bills in the city from July, was not used to support funding for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations.

The event is organised by the council along with Unique Assembly, an events firm, but depends on funding applications each year.

This year’s four-day event began on Monday with a torchlight procession, and concludes on Thursday with a series of live music events across the city.

Efforts have been made to expand the celebrations beyond the city centre and to put on free-to-access events.

Ms Meagher said she would be “surprised if some of the visitor levy wasn’t used to support Hogmanay celebrations in some way”.

She said decisions would be made by a committee rather than by herself, and other expenditure to boost tourism could include improvements to infrastructure such as lighting, litter picking and graffiti removal.

Ms Meagher said: “It has got to be used for the purposes in the legislation, including supporting tourism, and the winter festivals are an important part of that.”

Travel by tram is free for revellers on Hogmanay, which Ms Meagher said is designed to make the celebrations inclusive for citizens.

Ms Meagher said: “I think this year we have managed to increase inclusion, we have got local acts as well as international ones.”

She welcomed the introduction of the visitor levy, and said: “I am very keen on closing the gap in the city between the rich and the poor.

“It is a wealthy, thriving city if you are in on it, but if you are not, it is not a great place to be.

“The free events are so important to us, because it keeps it accessible to people.

“The winter festivals put £200 million into the economy, it is an investment – it is good for business and jobs, and people need jobs.

“We have had far more local businesses at the Christmas markets.

“I think it is really positive – we do everything possible to keep it positive.

“It cheers everybody up.”

Despite the main Hogmanay street party being cancelled in 2024, the winter festival including the Christmas market were worth almost £200 million to the city last year and research published by Unique Assembly found more than 2.8 million people attended.

Director of Unique Assembly, Al Thompson, told The Herald funding for the torchlight procession was only confirmed in November and applications have to be made each year.

“We have been saying for years that the event needs more support,” he said.

“Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is one of the few festivals in Scotland that has not received multi-year funding support from the Scottish Government. We are still in a situation where we have to put in applications every year for what is potentially available.

“We only found out about our funding application for the torchlight procession last month. We already had to put tickets on sale.

“The discussions with the city council and the Scottish Government are positive. I think there is now an understanding about where we are and how precarious it all is. At the moment, this festival happens because we are helping to pay for it to the tune of more than £250,000 a year.

“The content from Edinburgh’s Hogmanay are used year-round to promote Scotland. The value of that is considerable compared to the money that is actually put into the event.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “As part of a record £34 million uplift for culture in the 2025-26 Budget, a number of Edinburgh festivals received significant increases in core funding through Creative Scotland’s multi-year funding programme.

“Alongside this, organisations within Edinburgh and across Scotland, who are vital parts of the infrastructure underpinning the success of festivals in Scotland’s capital, have also benefited from multi-year funding.

“This year the Scottish Government has also provided £4 million of additional funding specifically for festivals. This has ensured an increase of £1 million in Expo funding across 14 festivals in both Edinburgh and Glasgow.

“This recognises the success of festivals in shaping and supporting hundreds of commissions, enhancing the ambitions of thousands of Scottish artists and attracting audiences in the millions for Expo-supported work since the fund’s creation in 2007.

“This year, councils – including Edinburgh – received a record £15.1 billion, up 5.5% in real-terms. Edinburgh has also had additional funding for its capital city status since 2008-09, currently £3.9 million a year.”