Festivals Edinburgh names new Director

LORI ANDERSON will succeed JULIA AMOUR as Director of Festivals Edinburgh from October.

Currently Director of the arts, heritage and creative industries network Culture Counts, Anderson was previously Development Manager at Scotland + Venice, interim Director at Creative Dundee and Head of Development and Enterprise at Collective.

She has also worked at Museums Galleries Scotland and spent nine years at the National Lottery Heritage Fund. 

Anderson is a trustee of Fife Contemporary and the former Vice Chair of the Scottish Contemporary Art Network.

Commenting on her appointment, Anderson described the 11 major international festivals that drive the development and strategy organisation as “one of Scotland’s greatest cultural assets”.

“The fragility of our cultural landscape is all too familiar to me,” she added, “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 festival's family.”

SIMON GAGE, Chair of Festivals Edinburgh, said Anderson’s appointment came at a moment of significant change for the festivals sector. “We’ve bounced back from the Covid pandemic but remain fragile, as does the wider culture eco-system,” said Gage.
 
“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."