'I don't go into the centre of Edinburgh at Christmas' - Gilded Balloon's Karen Koren reflects on the future of city’s winter celebrations

"I soon grew out of that, I didn't realise how much fun I would have," laughs the larger than life 70-year-old, who founded the Gilded Balloon in 1986.

Today, the Gilded Balloon is much more than just a Fringe venue, producing comedy and theatre tours as well creating the original template for Edinburgh's Christmas festival, Winter Wonderland, in the 90's. A template on which today's event has been built.

Of course, 2020 is an exception. With the dark nights here and the countdown to Christmas underway, Edinburgh looks very different this December. There's no big wheel keeping the Scott Monument company, no German Market thronged with tourists and no winter festivals bringing a sparkly twinkle to the Capital, not to mention the accompanying boost to the city's coffers.

For some, a respite from the excesses of the Christmas and Hogmanay celebrations will be welcome, for others, especially local businesses, the dearth of events will be devastating. Karen, who now runs Gilded Balloon with daughter Katy, falls into the latter camp, albeit with reservations. Edinburgh is her home, and just as she once thought 'here we go again' as the Fringe neared, she can understand that reaction from some residents when faced with another winter of festivals.

Ironically, if anyone can boast an insight into the city over the festive period it's Karen who, along with Pete Irvine of Unique Events, was integral in launching and shaping the Capital's winter calendar.

"Back in the 90's when we started the Christmas celebrations it was great because it wasn't commercial; it was fun for the family to go skating and the markets weren't too big. Now everything has become so commercial. I understand why this is happening but I don't like it. I don't go into the centre of Edinburgh at Christmas," she says, adding, "This year is obviously different and, actually, I quite like it - The Dome still looks amazing, the lights and Christmas trees are up and there's still the buzz of Christmas shopping; people are just desperate to shop, worried they’re not going to get it all done in time."

As life proceeds at a much gentler pace this month, it will come as a comfort to those who have fallen out of love with the event due to the rampant 'Disneyfication' of the city in recent times. Reflecting on the origins of the winter programme and its subsequent evolution, she offers, "There's a balance between these two, and that's what I think the future should be.

"I started the ice rink etc in East Princes Street Gardens, a natural arena. Now that arena hosts hundreds of stalls, all selling the same sort of thing. It is too much, whereas watching skaters on a rink is fabulous and I'm sorry, I don't want to attack Underbelly because I think they do a good job, but putting an ice rink in George Street is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life."

Acknowledging the winter festivals are now very different beasts to those she and Irvine created, Karen reflects, "At the time, I was very aware of working with the council on what they wanted. They didn't have a brief back then, that developed, and while they were reasonably happy with what we did, unfortunately I listened to them and did what they wanted... commercially it didn't make sense. And back then, I didn't get a grant from them, which they now give."

"The whole thing about any Christmas event is that it should have a magical spirit to it," insists the producer who continues to be part of Edinburgh's Christmas celebrations this year, despite pandemic restrictions.

"I've always enjoyed doing Christmas events and we are doing one this year. The Christmas Search Party is not going to make us rich, it's not an ice rink that can take 250 people at a time or a Santa's Grotto, but it is something for families and kids "

The Christmas Search Party follows the success of the Gilded Balloon's Fringe Search Party and is an interactive treasure hunt guaranteed to have 'more seasonal surprises than Santa’s sack' and to leave you feeling 'as satisfied as double helpings of Christmas pud.'

"Although we are a commercial organisation we are not about making lots of money, for me it is always about working with the artists we work with, for example, we did a Spiegeltent in the Gardens one year as part of our Winter Wonderland. I would have loved to have continued that on, there was even a Winter Wonderland in London's Hyde Park influenced by what we did in Edinburgh..."

She admits, "It took me a long time to get over that, but I am over it."

When the festive season passes, thoughts will turn, as they do every year, to the Fringe – Karen has a message that comedy lovers and Fringe-goers everywhere will be cheered to hear.

"We are looking forward to presenting a proper Fringe programme next year because the vaccine is coming and they’re saying that by Easter, theatres in England will be open, therefore, by August there definitely will be something happening in Edinburgh. We don't yet know how we are going to go ahead, but right now we are planning a full festival.

"Come March/April we will know whether that is achievable and work accordingly but things we are thinking of doing include taking temperatures on the way in and longer turn around times between shows to allow us to sanitise venues. We may play to smaller houses but at the moment are working towards having the same seating capacity and outdoor shows could become important to us."

Of course, it could be said that Karen has been here before. When the Gilded Balloon's Cowgate venue burned down in 2002, much like in 2020, the businesswoman was left not knowing what came next.

Highlighting the hit the Gilded Balloon has taken over the last nine months, she reveals, "We've got four staff left, doing two days a week, normally we'd have about 10. We unfortunately also had to give up our all year round venue on Rose Street, it was far too costly to keep going. We had to let 10 staff there go, which was very sad."

She continues, "The fact is, over the 35 years I have run the Gilded Balloon, it has always been precarious. Even before Covid came along I'd added to my mortgage so many times. The landscape of the Fringe has been changing so much that it has become very hard... there's so much competition. Covid has just made it even harder - we went from a turnover of millions to hundreds."

If anything, the current challenges have just made Karen more determined than ever to ensure the survival of the Gilded Balloon, now very much an Edinburgh institution.

"I think about my long career and how low I have been at times, but you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get on with it," she says matter-of-factly.

"So I am very resilient, as is Katy. This August was so hard. We tried to keep busy but Edinburgh was a ghost town. It was so sad, it made me think how awful the city was without the Fringe and the Festival. We found ourselves looking towards the future not knowing what the future is... in that way, the Cowgate fire and Covid are very comparable.

"In 2002 we were lucky, Teviot came along and became our Fringe home, without that there might not have been a Gilded Balloon. Now, we are right at the heart of the Festival and while I have my reputation of being loud and angry, I do care about the performers and what we present and I'm proud of Edinburgh, it's a beautiful city. I love it and I want to produce here, Edinburgh is the reason that the Fringe and all these festivals work."

The Gilded Balloon's Christmas Search Party runs until Friday, January 8, 2021, £10 (per team of up to five), www.searchpartyedinburgh.co.uk

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription