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Edinburgh International Festival performers are being urged to back an open letter from pro-Palestine campaigners demanding the event ditch its biggest corporate backer.
More than 200 artists, arts workers and audience members are already said to have supported calls for the 78-year-old event to sever its ties with Baillie Gifford over its links with state-owned firms in Israel and the fossil fuels industry.
The open letter has been published days after the launch of a new campaign calling for the annual cultural to drop Baillie Gifford after more than a year of talks with the festival.
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The Art Workers for Palestine Scotland group has described Baillie Gifford’s backing of the festival event – which was created in the aftermath of the Second World War – as “artwashing.”
Its open letter urges the festival to “end all partnerships with Baillie Gifford and to publicly commit to refusing funding from institutions profiting from arms, fossil fuels, and genocide.”
The campaign group has claimed that the festival has tried to gag artists and performers in this year’s event through clauses in their contracts about conduct which may affect the “reputation” of the EIF, its sponsors and supporters.
In an email to the group from the EIF board, the festival has insisted that the contract causes are “standard provisions” used by UK arts organisations.
The board added: “They are not, and have never been, intended to silence or censor political expression.”
The open letter has been published during the first week of the EIF, days after director Nicola Benedetti pledged that the event would be doubling down” on the founding principles which saw the event emerge in the aftermath of the Second World War.
She said the festival would be “unwavering” in its commitment to bring artists together from around the world as she admitted feeling “deep and constant pain” over the impact of prolonged conflict.
The EIF decided last year to stand by Baillie Gifford despite book festivals across the UK cutting their ties with the company in response to threats to boycott and disrupt events from climate activists and authors.
In June it emerged that the EIF had backed an open letter from arts organisations across the UK warning of the impact of “relentless negativity” over corporate sponsors.
Francesca Hegyi, chief executive of the EIF, has suggested there has been a “wholescale collapse of arts sponsorship” since Baillie Gifford was targeted over its links with festivals.
An email from the EIF to the campaign group last month said the festival had had “detailed conservations” with Baillie Gifford over its investments and was “satisfied that our relationship with them remains appropriate.”
The EIF, which has suggested that the campaign group has been individually contacting members of staff working on the event, has stressed that it has a “duty of care” to its staff, artists and audiences.
It has also told the group that it will not be support a cultural boycott of Israel or taking “public political positions on international conflicts.”
However the open letter from the campaigners states: “Programming choices are political. Silence is political. Accepting money from those who fund genocide is a political act.
“The eyes of the world are on Edinburgh this August. Let this be the moment we choose justice over reputation, integrity over comfort, and solidarity over silence.”
A spokesperson for the EIF said: We share public concern about the ongoing violence in the Palestinian Territories, and other areas enduring conflict.
“The right to speak out, to demand change, and to protest these issues is fundamental to democracy.
“The festival gives voice to artists for important ideas, questions and stories to be freely presented and debated with nuance and empathy. Our 2025 programme tackles this and other important global issues head-on, from a range of perspectives.
“Our responsibility is to ensure the future of the festival, so that we can continue to offer public benefit and offer audiences transformational experiences. To do this we must secure funding from a balanced mix of public and private sources.
“Support from long standing donors such as Baillie Gifford enables us to sustain our artistic ambition, remain accessible to the widest possible audience, and contribute meaningfully to Scotland’s cultural life.”
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