EDINBURGH'S festivals are to mount a major counter-offensive to head off a string of potential threats from the staging of the 2012 London Olympics, The Scotsman can reveal. Fears are growing among some organisers that a major dates clash will lead to a slump in audiences, cuts in sponsorship deals and problems finding enough staff and equipment to allow events to run properly.

But other officials insist the sports extravaganza represents a "huge opportunity" for the likes of the Fringe and the Edinburgh International Festival.

The London games will start on the same weekend Edinburgh's festivals season starts and will continue until the end of the second weekend of the Fringe, by which time the EIF will also be up and running.

Fringe venue operators say ticket-sale fears are based on recent experience when the festival coincided with the Athens and Beijing Olympics.

However, a special taskforce has been set up to work out how Edinburgh can capitalise on the 2012 Olympics, which run from 27 July-12 August, as well as the Paralympics, being staged in London, from 29 August-12 September.

A delegation from the 2012 organising committee will visit Edinburgh next week for a showcase of the city's major events and to discuss potential joint projects.

The festivals are exploring the programming of Olympic-themed events in 2012 and how to cash in on a huge Cultural Olympiad being staged across Britain before the games.

Other ideas include trying to persuade thousands of visitors to the Games to extend their trip to the festivals, creating joint ticket and accommodation packages, and persuading journalists based in London to head to Edinburgh.

Steve Cardownie, festivals and events champion at the city council, said a number of senior festival figures had raised potential problems in recent weeks.

"There is a lot of concern about the Fringe in particular because the dates are such a clash with the start of the festival.

"People are worried that many staff who normally come up from London will be enticed to stay there and that there will be real problems in sourcing technical staff and equipment."

William Burdett-Coutts, artistic director at Assembly, the biggest Fringe venue, said: "My main concern is that many people will just not want to go to a live event when the London Olympics are on TV.

"But we are also worried about how difficult it might be to attract sponsors in 2012 because of how much demand there will be to get involved in the Olympics."

Charlie Wood, director of Underbelly's venues, said: "We are extremely concerned at the moment, mainly with increased costs but also over how audience numbers might be affected.

"The Olympics could well be a huge opportunity for the festivals, but at the moment we very much see it as a major threat."

Faith Liddell, director of umbrella body Festivals Edinburgh, insisted the staging of the 2012 Olympics was "perfect timing" for Edinburgh.

"We're delighted to be hosting senior delegates from London 2012 in Edinburgh next week so they can appreciate the scale and impact of the world's festival capital first-hand and feel the buzz that has captivated millions of visitors for the past 60 years.

"With perfect timing for the summer festivals, and an internationally-famous calendar of festivals unparalleled in size and scope, we believe that we are uniquely placed to deliver – in collaboration with the both the Olympic and Commonwealth Games – a permanent legacy for Scotland."

Menawhile, Jonathan Mills, director of the EIF, called for the creation of a "one more night" campaign to persuade people visiting the Olympics to spend an extra night in the UK by sampling Edinburgh's festivals.

"The challenge is to find viable, not contrived, activities that can actually encourage people to go beyond London. We are working very closely with the Cultural Olympiad, and the organising committee.

"We are the bridge between the London games and the Paralympics, so we should be thinking about joint marketing initiatives, ticketing and promotions. We want to say to people coming to London, that if you're thinking of spending one more night, Edinburgh's your place."