Capital News
70 YEARS OF CELEBRATING THE EXTRAORDINARY
This year will see the 70th anniversary of Edinburgh’s three original festivals: the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Edinburgh International Film Festival. The festivals have grown exponentially since they were founded in 1947. With the mission of bringing audiences and artists together from across the world following the Second World War, they have paved the way for an array of sister events that give Edinburgh its indisputable moniker of the ‘Festival City’. An extra £300,000 in funding has been earmarked for the celebrations, which takes the total government funding to £2.3 million. It promises to be a momentous year, bursting with 70th birthday-themed events, parades and concerts.
SUPERHEROES ARE FLYING INTO EDINBURGH
Iron Man, Thor and Captain America will soon be battling evil forces in Edinburgh as it was announced that key scenes in the highly anticipated third movie of Marvel’s cinematic universe, Avengers: Infinity War, will be shot in Scotland’s capital. The latest instalment, which has a budget of £400 million, is expected to boost the Scottish economy by around £10 million, with locations in Glasgow and the Highlands also set to be used over a six-month period. It is likely to become the biggest movie ever made in Scotland, dwarfing Brad Pitt’s zombie film World War Z which generated an estimated £3.3 million for Glasgow when it was filmed there in just 17 days in 2011.
A NEW ‘CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE’ FOR FINTECH IN EDINBURGH
Fintech start-ups in Edinburgh have received a boost with the news that Scotland’s first hub dedicated to innovation in financial services will open in May. Operating out of Entrepreneurial Spark’s ‘hatchery’ which can be found at RBS’s headquarters in Gogarburn, the business accelerator will offer free space and expertise to Fintech start-ups. The sector, which was said to be worth £6.6bn to the UK economy in 2015, encompasses technological innovation around e-banking, payments and digital currencies. Entrepreneurial Spark Chief Executive, Lucy-Rose Walker, said: “The new space is the first of its kind and will be a centre of excellence right at the heart of the financial services sector in Scotland.”