Held annually as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, members of the public were invited to attend a wide range of demonstrations, talks and tours to “Celebrate Scotland’s traditional buildings”.

Based at the offices of Edinburgh World Heritage Trust and running from the 21st to 25th August, the festival’s aim was to help and empower homeowners to make informed decisions to repair and maintain their homes as a home cannot be energy efficient unless it is wind and watertight.

John McKinney, co-ordinator of the Scottish Traditional Building Forum, said: “We are delighted to have completed our 11th Edinburgh Traditional Building Festival as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.”

A range of practical demonstrations were provided aimed at assisting and empowering homeowners to repair and maintain their homes, with over 400 people attending various events such as demonstrations on sash and case windows and lime rendering to talks on energy efficiency in traditional buildings.

There was a chance to watch expert-led demonstrations on roof slating and roof leadwork and walking tours of a few completed Edinburgh World Heritage Trust grant-aided projects highlighting the work done and the importance of that work in preserving it for future generations.

Along with demonstrations and guided walks, Wendy MacAdie and Silke Schneider gave a talk on the 12 Closes project which made improvements to the closes of Edinburgh to encourage exploration of the Old Town of the city beyond the main streets. Edinburgh World Heritage Trust also provided guidance on grants and funding available to owners of older buildings in the world heritage site and neighbouring conservation areas.

Scott Miller, chairman at NFRC Scotland, said: “It is essential we raise the profile of the need to repair and maintain our homes. All to often I am called to a job which has resulted from basic maintenance not being undertaken with would have saved the homeowner considerable money and inconvenience. The Edinburgh Traditional Building Festival is a great way of getting this message out to the public and give them the knowledge how best repair and maintain their homes.”

The success of these events is extremely encouraging, showing the enthusiasm of homeowners through positive engagement and questions. It is very important to keep up the momentum with such events, thus planning is underway for further opportunities to showcase our traditional buildings and how best to maintain them.