We’ve had numerous emails and phone calls about Audrey coming to the Edinburgh Festival this August.
Sadly the Vintage Mobile Cinema will not be going this year. And unfortunately, it very much looks like we will not be able to return in future years.

In a new initiative, the Edinburgh Council (led by Councillor Lesley Macinnes) have hugely increased the cost of the organised street closures. They have decided to claim full recoupment for all lost parking revenue on George Street in the new town as well as the roads around George Square in the Old Town. This is surprising, as it would be physically impossible to collect 100% of all available parking revenue if the spaces were made available to normal parking.

The impact to the festival organisers of those areas (The Assembly, Underbelly, Gilded Balloon etc) is they have far less room for creativity and have decided to increase the number of drinking and food vendors to ensure they can make the spaces work financially.

As a huge lover of the Edinburgh Festival, I think this is a very sad move and I am disappointed to not be returning. The Council’s massive increase does not take into account the huge taxed income that is generated from the street closures and the festival as a whole in terms of spending in travel, restaurants, shops, hotels etc. And you will be able add the new £2 tourist tax that will be levied from next year.

Because the decision was made so late in the day, this has meant the cinema has only one (recently made) booking in August now. Please get in touch if you run any suitable events for which the Vintage Mobile Cinema would be perfect.

ps. I did inform Lesley Macinnes of the impact of her new policy but she has not given me the respect to provide a response.