Festival Square

Festival Square has been struggling to live up to its name for some time now. It is a Square but not very festive.

This large classical town square has the kind of space that you might expect of an italian plaza. In other parts of town, this much open space would be a natural spot for performers and punters to gravatate to.

The main problem is that the square is next to a very busy road - Lothian Road - with a large hotel and businesses around it. Unlike say St. Andrew Square Garden, with its pleasent New Town setting and landscaped gardens, there's not much atmosphere to soak up here.

The future role of the Square has been the subject of many discussions, however as if submitting to the view that nothing interesting can be done with the Square, the Council solution has been to oversee the erection of a large screen in the middle of the Square.

A path found, at the North-West corner of the Square, curves along new office blocks and upmarket coffee shops and terraced bars, built in the traditional neo-classical fashion of the New Town. it provides a quiet shortcut to the Edinburgh International Conference Centre and Haymarket/Fountainbridge.

At the Fringe in 2009, a contingent of Malaysians are making a bold attempt to enliven the Square with its Malaysian Pavilion which will feature aspects of Malaysian culture including dance, music, crafts and cuisine.