Porn, prostitutes and drugs have long been associated with Edinburgh's grim underbelly, but visitors to this summer's festivals should prepare to be shocked. The city's seedy side has moved center stage.
For years, the splendors of the castle, Royal Mile and Princes Street were proudly displayed to the world. But away from the tourist attractions, a parallel, twilight world that city fathers were less keen to boast about did a roaring trade. No longer.
The sex industry has exploded from Leith's docklands into the heart of the Scottish capital. Once prim, Edinburgh city center is a haven for brothels, lap-dancing clubs and strip bars. The Athens of the North has become the Amsterdam of the North.
If that were not enough to have the notoriously reserved Edinburgh middle classes spluttering with indignation, porn has now invaded their annual cultural showcase. Running alongside this year's International Festival and Fringe, which begins today, is Festival Erotique, a celebration of hardcore movies, sex toys and kinky fashion.
While opera aficionados head for the Usher Hall and comedy fans check out the latest acts at the Gilded Balloon, porn lovers will gather at the Corn Exchange to watch the latest sex films and meet the industry's leading stars.
Festival Erotique promises "an adult lifestyles and entertainment paradise," complete with live shows, erotic art and adult shopping.
It is, they claim, a "must-be-there" event for open-minded, adventurous and curious adults.
And visitors whose appetite for adult entertainment is whetted by the festival will be able to further satisfy their curiosity in the city's "pubic triangle" sex zone, which has grown right next to the burgeoning business district. In a city previously viewed as somewhat pious and uptight, the area off Lothian Road is home to a clutch of seedy bars as well as more upmarket table-dancing establishments.
Across the city, more than 20 brothels, thinly disguised as saunas, operate with licenses issued by a council famed for its relaxed policies. Supporters claim the scheme keeps prostitutes off the streets and out of danger. There have also been experiments with Dutch-style "tolerance zones," where women can seek business from motorists without fear of prosecution. A campaign has been mounted to make the zones a permanent fixture.
Meanwhile, cannabis campaigners plan to open Amsterdam-style coffee shops in the heart of the capital. They hope changes to laws regarding possession and a liberal approach by local police will allow people to smoke the drug on their premises.
The contrast with supposedly swaggering Glasgow could not be more stark. There, councillors are trying to shut lap-dancing clubs and police take a zero-tolerance approach to prostitution.
There is nothing new about sex as business in Edinburgh. A survey in 1842 revealed that the city had 200 brothels -- which were busiest at the time of the annual meeting of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Now the Scottish capital is less bashful about adult attractions.
But some fear that flaunting this booming sex sector could damage Edinburgh's reputation.
"We have a great city and don't want to be associated with this type of so-called entertainment," said one resident, Ronald Hann.
"Sexually transmitted diseases are at an all-time high and assaults on women are increasing. Cheap-thrill entertainment is hardly likely to improve matters. And this erotic festival is likely to tarnish the image of Edinburgh's International Festival in the eyes of some visitors," he said.
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