Here's a clue. I've now received 20 tickets for this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival and, if previous years are anything to go by, I may just manage another one or two events.
So what's with all of those companies that I mentioned? They are all sponsoring the Book Festival.
Let's look now at the Jazz Festival. I note sponsorship from Starbucks, Miller, Festival Inns and the Malmaison hotel group.
And the Film Festival? There's far too many to list. You can see them here, but they range from Standard Life to Lufthansa and from Viacom to Sheraton. It's a similar story with the Fringe (28,014 performances this year!) and of course at the "official" Festival, not to mention all the others.
So, the question is this: If so many capitalists are willing to sponsor the Arts, how much more could they do if taxation were to be slashed? In fact, it seems to me that Edinburgh's festivals demonstrate that the Arts can do just fine if only the state would get out of the way.
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Bill (Scotland)
Indeed! The way these things are dealt with in the US works with, not against, human nature; ordinary people and companies would do a lot more if given the right incentive and lower taxes would be a huge help.
31 July 2006, 11:59:33 GMT+01:00
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