Was ‘traffic-free’ Cowgate the pedestrian paradise we dreamed of?

Bars and music venues were bursting at the seams but the traffic closure experiment was not without its issues

Night time traffic in the Cowgate

The city centre seemed to be taking a deep breath this weekend; exhaling the mobs of festival-goers and enjoying brief respite before the hordes of students will arrive in their place.

With almost every festival seeing record-breaking numbers in August 2025, the streets have been more crowded than ever. Many of the city’s hotspots, however, were significantly less busy with traffic than usual. City of Edinburgh Council brought back its summertime streets initiative, which had mixed reviews in 2019, this summer. This included restricted access to one of the most famously crowded streets: home to some of the Fringe’s most iconic venues, one of Edinburgh’s year-round hubs of night life, the Cowgate. From 28 July to 26 August, the street, as well as adjoining Blair Street, was closed to anyone except delivery drivers and local residents from 3pm to 5am.

Cowgate was arguably one of the least popular road closures of the summer streets programme in 2019, due to poor enforcement. Last year, the street was floated as the first to be closed off to non-essential traffic last year, as part of the council’s City Mobility Plan which envisages limited car travel in much of the centre. The street was also the site of a tragic road traffic accident last Halloween, worsened by the busy confusion of partying crowds on the narrow road.

As the dust settles and regular traffic returns to Cowgate, we spoke to seven businesses operating on Cowgate and Blair Street, to hear their reflections on this new round of Summer Streets closures. Far from the furore which has been sparked elsewhere in the city over traffic controls, Cowgate businesses had nuanced views on the temporary road closure.

Fringe footfall never fails

It’s difficult to estimate the impact of lower traffic on footfall on the Cowgate, considering the restrictions were only in place during the busiest month of the year. In 2019 the pedestrian footfall was estimated to increase by 550% when the August festivals started.

This year, Cowgate businesses said unanimously that their footfall had not been impacted at all by the road closures. Most said that they are bursting at the seams during the festivals, and a minor road closure was never going to change that. One bar manager said that, if anything, the bar was busier as people were hanging around on the street outside for longer.