Structure

Katie Paterson

Board Member

Head of Business Strategy and Stakeholders of Edinburgh International Festival

Festivals are about discovery, they bring people and performers together from around the world to create and share experiences and celebrate our differences.

The Edinburgh International Festival exists to promote cultural exchange and collaboration between people of different cultures and backgrounds.

The Festival was founded in post-war 1947 with a powerful aim to heal through cultural connection and ever since then the Festival has brought people, performances and cultures together from every corner of the world. We believe that by creating new experiences and new encounters we can help everyone discover more about what we share as humans, celebrate the qualities that make us different and tackle the challenges we all face as a global community together.

Today we continue to encourage the development of the performing arts for the benefit of our city, our country and our world, recognising and supporting excellence on an international scale. We are driven by an ambition to be widely known and admired on the world stage as an authoritative, leading influence in global performing arts.  

Katie has worked at the Edinburgh International Festival since 2010.  As one of the senior managers, she is responsible for building effective relationships with local and national government and wider stakeholder groups. She is also responsible for the business and strategic planning functions for the Festival and works closely with the executive leadership team and colleagues to develop and monitor business and operational plans.

Katie was delighted to be elected to the board of the European Festivals Association in November 2021.