Edinburgh International Book Festival's decision to move to Edinburgh College of Art should be applauded – Helen Martin

Yes, it did cause damage to the gardens, particularly if Edinburgh went through its August rain spells. When it started in 1983, it took place in one tent, but recently it attracted 260,000 people – not ideal for a city centre open spot at the end of George Street.

The College of Art is a cultural location with inside options as well as its campus grounds, so it is an appropriate site.

The organisers are only planning all that this year if city festivals can have audiences. They could have social distanced audiences and broadcasts. Even if the pandemic is restricting all that this summer, their partnership with the college is “long-term”.

And unlike some other festivals, it is not overtaking the city centre and its gardens and creating upheaval. It is calm, not disturbingly noisy, and the quarter of a million attenders are spread over two weeks.

If festivals are not “open” with the pandemic, it will be online as it was last summer.

But most of all, it is leading the way for festivals to relocate to a suitable venue out of the exceedingly compact centre-heart of the city.

It is “cultural” of course. Noisy, fairground, loud outside concerts, markets and fireworks that destroy the lives of city centre residents and obliterate the Capital’s culture are different festival “challenges”.

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