Festivals Edinburgh has appointed Lori Anderson as its new Director, succeeding Julia Amour who is stepping down from the role in October 2024.

Formed in 2007, Festivals Edinburgh is the high-level organisation, created and driven by the directors of Edinburgh’s 11 major international festivals, to take the lead on their joint strategic development.

Festivals Edinburgh said Anderson brings unique experience to the position, most recently as Director of Culture Counts, the network of arts, heritage, and creative industries organisations in Scotland, and previously with Scotland + Venice, Creative Dundee, Collective Gallery, and Museums Galleries Scotland.

Festivals Edinburgh chair Simon Gage said: “Lori joins us at a moment of significant change in our festivals landscape.

“We’ve bounced back from the covid pandemic but remain fragile, as does the wider culture eco-system.

“There are many challenges to be confronted in the coming years, but also many opportunities to be seized, and in Lori we believe we have found an exceptionally authoritative advocate to help shape our collective future.”

The new Director will take up her role just as changes are underway in both festivals’ strategies and wider culture & tourism policies, including the planned introduction of a Visitor Levy by City of Edinburgh Council – the first in the United Kingdom – and the national campaign for all political parties to reinvest in culture, building on Scottish Government commitments to increase funding by £100 million over coming years.

Anderson said: “The Edinburgh Festivals are amongst Scotland’s greatest cultural assets, recognised at home and abroad as bringing immense cultural, economic and social value to the country and its people.

“The fragility of our cultural landscape is all too familiar to me, but the agility of the Edinburgh Festivals in responding to change has always impressed me, and I look forward to taking up this crucial role at the heart of the festivals family.”