Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP): 6. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the contribution that local arts festivals make to communities in regeneration areas. (S4O-02277)
The Minister for External Affairs and International Development (Humza Yousaf): We are aware of the significant cultural, social and economic contribution that Scotland’s arts and culture festivals make to all our communities. That is why Creative Scotland’s creative place awards, for example, reward the hard work and imagination that contribute to the rich cultural life of a community, as well as its social and economic wellbeing.
Stewart Stevenson: Does the minister agree that arts events such as the coast festival, the launch of which I attended recently in Macduff, are vital in supporting community spirit and boosting the local economy by attracting visitors, both foreign and domestic?
Humza Yousaf: I absolutely agree. We all know that the arts and culture make a vital contribution to social and economic wellbeing. On top of that, they are a great way in which people can come together, as the member said, and share creative experiences.
I heard that the coast festival was a fantastic success, particularly the sandcastle competition and the rubber duck race. I was delighted that the festival took the opportunity in our year of natural Scotland to celebrate the beauty and creativity of the Banffshire coastal towns.
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (Lab): Given that the Leith festival benefits not just regeneration areas in Leith but the whole of Leith and Edinburgh and further afield, is it not time that the Leith festival received some funding from the national fund that is available for national festivals? Would the Leith festival at the beginning of June each year not be the ideal curtain-raiser for the great summer of festivals, which continues tonight with the launch of the film festival?
Humza Yousaf: The member makes a good point about the wider contribution and impact that festivals can make. I am not entirely sure whether the Leith festival has applied for funding, but I am more than happy to sit down with the member to explore that.
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About Stewart Stevenson
Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - Bell Baxter - and studied Mathematics at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with a modest degree in 1969. That's also the year Sandra & I married. Her family comes from the North East.Thirty years later I retired from Bank of Scotland as Director of Technology Innovation and was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2001 as member for Banff & Buchan having first joined the SNP in 1961.
I then represented the new constituency of Banffshire & Buchan Coast Constituency in our Parliament. I retired as an MSP on 5th May 2021
I was also previously (2007-2010), Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change and (2011-2012), Minister for Environment and Climate Change.
I hold the honorary posts of President of the Scottish Association for Public Transport
and Vice-President of Railfuture UK.I am a Fellow of The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a Member at The Institution of Engineering and Technology, a Professional Member of the Association for Computing Machinery, a Member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists and an Associate Member of the Highland Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association.
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