James McVeigh

Born and raised in Ireland, James travelled to his first festival at the age of four with his family of nine in an old Morris Minor car, leaving him with a love of festivals and a dislike of car travel. His interest in arts and culture as the key element of a good society has led to senior arts management roles across the UK, the development of numerous European cultural projects, and the delivery of international festival programmes in countries as diverse as Indonesia, Japan and Mexico.  In his current role with Festivals Edinburgh, a uniquely collaborative organisation, he works to sustain and develop the position of Edinburgh as a world leading festival city - which now sees the Festivals host each year over 20,000 artists, more than 1000 media, and audiences of c4m while generating c£400 million for the economy. James is also a Trustee of the UNESCO City of Literature Trust and sits on the board of New Media Scotland.