Scotland’s Festival of Economics
Scotland’s Festival of Economics. Economic events in Scotland in Leith, Edinburgh, March 2026.
Progressive economic events in Scotland
From 2023 – 2025 Dundee hosted Scotland’s largest festival of economics (the Scotonomics Festival of Economics). This was a massive undertaking by the tiny team at Scotonomics but each year almost 200 people attended events across Dundee. In 2026 the festival changes city and shifts gear by moving to a new home in Edinburgh – or to be more precise Leith.
The festival will also change name and format. ‘Scotland’s Festival of Economics’ will enable more organisations to take part. Individual talks will take place across venues in Leith instead of the ‘conference’ format of the festival in Dundee. This will give attendees the opportunity to pick and choose talks across three days in Leith.
Scotland’s festival of economics founder William Thomson said, “we have loved being in Dundee but with a Holyrood election in 2026 and an increasing unease at the direction of the UK and global economy it is essential to do all we can to attract more attendees to our talks. Moving the event to Leith, with its radical political and economic history, will help us to do that.”
The festival sessions will use a ‘political economy’ lens which can be traced back to the Scottish founder of economics, Adam Smith. It will take a pluralistic economic approach seeking insights from schools of economics which sit outside of the mainstream economic/political narrative in Scotland.
Scotland has a rich history of economic enquiry based on a moral framing of the real world. Today’s ‘political economy’ insights come from Common Weal, Future Economy Scotland, The David Hume Institute, The Jimmy Reid Foundation and Scotonomics – among many other policy focussed organisations.
Scotland’s Festival of Economics: Scotland’s Festival of Economics. Economic events in Scotland in Leith, Edinburgh, March 2026.
The festival will have twenty individual talks taking place across three venues and three days in March.
Thursday evening 5 pm to 10 pm, 19th March 2026
Friday from 12pm to 10 pm, 20th March 2026 and
Saturday 12pm to 10 pm, 21st March 2026.
Many of the sessions will also be broadcast live for an at home and international audience.
Organisations from across Scotland, the UK and the globe are invited to curate an ‘official’ session at ‘Scotland’s Festival of Economics’ or run their own event during the days the festival takes place.
The Festival organisers are looking for organisations to curate sessions and also media organisations to sponsor and promote the festival. If you are interested in curating a session or offering support please get in touch.
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