Welcome to the Edinburgh TV Festival

At its heart, the TV Festival is a celebration of creativity and inclusivity. We exist to bring people together to share ideas, celebrate achievements, and help the industry to be the best in can be.

The Festival is a place for learning and inspiration, constructive debates, differing opinions and of course, lively parties.
However, the Festival is not a place for inappropriate, disruptive, or abusive behaviour, either in person or online. We are committed to providing an environment that is welcoming, accessible, and inclusive for all Festival guests and delegates, and for all team members and volunteers. We are all responsible for our own actions, and we are all entitled to a safe Festival experience.

By participating in Festival events, you agree to respect and embrace our shared code of conduct. We will not tolerate harassment or harmful behaviour in any form. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Offensive verbal comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, ethnicity, or religion, or any other protected characteristics, in person or via online platforms
• Harassing photography
• Sustained disruption of talks or other events
• Inappropriate physical contact
• Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
• Unwelcome touching or sexual attention
• Invasions of private space and personal boundaries
• Violence or aggression
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour

ETF will act if it feels any individual or group has failed to meet the standards set by this Code of Conduct, including but not limited to revoking the individual or group’s Festival passes without refund. Complaints of inappropriate behaviour may be communicated to the alleged perpetrator’s employer.

If at any time you are made to feel unsafe, if you experience or witness a violation of this Code of Conduct at the Festival please contact a member of staff, venue security or volunteer – they can be easily identified by their badges. They will help or find someone who can.

If you tell us about an incident, your immediate safety will be our first priority. We will listen from a position of belief and keep what you have told us in confidence unless otherwise agreed. We will recommend support services and agencies as appropriate.

If a complaint is received when the Festival is taking place, and is clearly found to be in contravention of the Safer Festival Policy by the Managing Director and Executive Chair it will result in the subject of the complaint being asked to leave the Festival and return their pass without refund, pending an outcome from a process to be undertaken post-Festival. If the complaint is received after the conclusion of the Festival, it will move straight into this process.

1. The complainant has the choice for their complaint to be taken forward anonymously or not, but they must provide details to us in order for us to take any action. Complaints can be sent to confidential@thetvfestival.com or relayed verbally to Festival staff on site. Festival staff can be identified by their black lanyards and “official” on their badges.

2. The subject of the complaint will be contacted directly and individually outlining which of the elements of our Safer Festival Policy have been broken and when. If the complainant consents for their details to be shared, this will also be part of the initial communications to the subject of the complaint. If not, the Festival will protect the complainant’s anonymity until advised otherwise.

3. The subject of the complaint will be given 10 days to respond to the complaint by offering their account of events in a statement. If they do not respond within this time frame, we reserve the right to uphold the complaint in absence of it being disputed and, depending on the breach and their employment status, contact their employers.

4. The complainant and the subject of the complaint may also provide witnesses to support their statements, and statements will be solicited from them by us.

5. Once all relevant statements have been received they will be reviewed by the Festival’s Safeguarding Working Group made up of members of the Festival’s senior management team and board members. A decision will be reached as to whether the Safer Festival Policy has been broken and if so what consequences there will be for the subject of the complaint regarding access to future Festivals.

While this policy is designed primarily for the TV Festival itself, it is also applicable to all events we run throughout the year.

We welcome any comments and suggestions that can help us to develop our Safer Festival Policy.