The Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) has warned that activists’ targeting of arts organisations over sponsorship deals “threatens our ability to function” as an open letter signed by hundreds of people in the sector renewed calls for the event to cut its ties with Baillie Gifford. The festival said demands for it to end its commercial partnership with the Edinburgh-based fund manager “ultimately reduces the very spaces where difficult conversations, human stories, and critical ideas can be explored”. More than 550 artists, audience members, cultural workers and performers have signed the letter put together by Art Workers For Palestine Scotland, calling on the EIF to “commit to refusing funding from institutions profiting from arms, fossil fuels and genocide”. The EIF has retained a commercial partnership with Baillie Gifford which has come under fire for its investments in defence firm Babcock International. In an interview with The Scotsman last month, director Nicola Benedetti insisted the EIF’s partnership with Baillie Gifford would continue beyond this year, despite backlash from pro-Palestine campaigners. Ms Benedetti said the festival was “confident in our decision” to retain ties with Baillie Gifford. Last year, the Edinburgh International Book Festival was forced to end its partnership with Baillie Gifford, warning it was no longer able to deliver a “safe and successful” event amid “threats of disruption”. A spokesperson for the EIF said the organisation shares “deep public concern” about the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They said: “The right to speak out about such urgent issues, to protest and demand change, is fundamental to democracy. The role of the International Festival is to give voice to artists, creating a platform to ask important questions with nuance and empathy. Our 2025 programme presented 2,000 artists from around the world, including Palestinian voices, who tackle many pressing global subjects head-on.” They added: “We appreciate that views on arts funding are deeply felt, however targeting arts organisations threatens our ability to function, and ultimately reduces the very spaces where difficult conversations, human stories, and critical ideas can be explored. Art can cross boundaries and change minds in ways that politics cannot. Our responsibility is to ensure the future of the Festival, so that we can continue to be a space for artistic reflection and international reconciliation, while offering transformational experiences to our audiences. “To do this we must secure funding from a balanced mix of public and private sources. Support from long standing donors such as Baillie Gifford enables us to sustain our artistic ambition, remain accessible to the widest possible audience, and contribute meaningfully to international dialogue as well as Scotland’s cultural landscape.” Signatories to the open letter are understood to include current EIF performers and staff, as well as performers including singer-songwriter Kathryn Joseph and Glasgow-based artist Rae-Yen Song. Musician Alabaster DePlume raised the EIF’s links with Baillie Gifford during a performance at the festival’s Hub earlier this month. Meanwhile artists from another EIF performance, Cutting the Tightrope, claimed they “almost didn’t do [the festival]”, referencing clauses they said were in their contract about “what we can and can’t say...in relation to the festival and their sponsors”. Baillie Gifford has been contacted for comment.