And so, goodbye Edinburgh Festivals. We said we'd do you bigger and better than ever before - and we did. Thanks to our teams across the city and down at the BBC site at Potterrow. Some just passing through for a night or two with one production, some in it for the full 24 days, but everyone working long hours, through all weather (including, and I'm not joking, an actual 'hurricane'), to bring Edinburgh to audiences at home and to make Potterrow (pictured) a fabulous production base and focal point for festival visitors with events and outreach programmes. Sure, stacked portacabins don't immediately scream 'fun' for some people, but we paint them bright colours and smile a lot. And there are tents, a ping-pong, a big screen, bands, family events, food stalls and a bar too.
One of the best things about Potterrow is the way it brings the whole BBC together. Here you find teams from Television, Radio, News, Learning, Nations and Regions, World Service and Online all working together with that warm, gooey collaborative spirit that defines the BBC at its absolute best. I even saw three different presenters come together in the same five-metre radius - the broadcasting equivalent of crossing the beams - and the world didn't end.
How do we know this was our best Edinburgh yet? Well, it was terrific having The One Show, Newsnight, Radio 1Xtra and World Service's Newsday join the party for the first time, bringing the best of Edinburgh to new and larger audiences. We also had a new flagship BBC Two show - Edinburgh Nights with Sue PerkinsandEdinburgh Extrawith Kirsty Warkon BBC Four. And we not only fulfilled, but surpassed our pledge to deliver a performance a day through BBC Arts Online. But the success also lay in the continuing support of friends like Fred MacAulay, Just a Minute, Radio 1, and the Asian Network. I sat in on as many broadcasts as I could and particularly enjoyed seeing shows like Front Row, Radio 2 Arts Show, Newsnight, In Tune, the Culture Studio, Simon Mayo Drivetime, Edinburgh Nights, recorded before large and enthusiastic audiences - and you could feel that energy translating on air.
It's not just Potterrow, of course. Radio 3 broadcast 19 concerts from the Edinburgh International Festival and teams from Scotland and Comedy were out and about capturing the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Seann Walsh's Late Night Comedy Spectacular, and the hottest shows across the city. Between us all, we ensured that the best of Edinburgh - the world's largest and finest arts and comedy festival - reached millions upon millions of people. It's something only we can do.
As for the art... The International Festival pulled a blinder with Rona Munro's extraordinary James plays. Seeing Sofie Grabol's (of The Killing and 'that' jumper fame) electrifying performance as Queen Margaret in James III - in this city at this time - felt like seeing history in the making. Other highlights included Akram Khan's wonderful Gnosis, where he heroically and masterfully improvised for twenty minutes because his female principle was off sick. The Book Festival goes from strength to strength and has emerged as one of the world's most important literary gatherings. My favourite Fringe plays were at Summerhall: Britannia Waves the Rules, The Man Who Almost Killed Himself and Standby for Tape Back-Up. There was weird and wonderful music with the Song of the Goat's Return to the Voice and Wyckham Porteous' Songs of Orwell Farm. And BBC Arts Online partnered with HiBROW on a brilliant series of productions including Alison Jackson's La Trashiata - a model for how we can be curators within the festivals as well as reporters.
As I write, the astro-turf is being rolled up at Potterrow, the deckchairs stacked, the tents let down and the portacabins taken to wherever portacabins go when not in use. Edinburgh is Christmas for anyone who loves art and comedy, and we're already talking to our partners and developing new ideas on how to work even closer and more effectively with the festivals next year.
Jonty Claypole is Director, BBC Arts
- Catch up with the best of the festivals at BBC Arts
