Cancellation of Edinburgh Hogmanay not to change future format of event

Organisers of Edinburgh’s famous Hogmanay events have announced that controversial cancellations will not lead to changes in the events format.

Events across the city were called off the day before Hogmanay due to adverse weather conditions amid a yellow weather warning for wind and rain across much of Scotland.

The fireworks at Edinburgh Castle as well as the torchlight procession and street party were among the events cancelled.

Unique Assembly, the organisation that runs Edinburgh Hogmanay on behalf of the local authority, made a “public safety announcement” hours before the bells on Tuesday urging revellers to avoid the city centre unless they were attending indoor events hours before the bells on Tuesday.

The decision to cancel the events, and the subsequent warning, has been labelled “outrageous” by SNP councillor Findlay McFarlane, while Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh called it “crazy”.

Unique Assembly explained that the event requires large amounts of infrastructure and they would be unable to safely erect this if weather forecasts were correct.

Al Thompson, Unique Assembly director said: “Last year we had possibly the mildest, calmest weather we have ever had. It was relatively easy for us to put on and everyone loved it.

“We have the complete reversal of that this year with three of the worst days of weather we have ever had.

“The infrastructure that is put in place is robust enough to withstand suitable levels of weather. When you go beyond that, giant screens, temporary stages, and structures will not withstand that at any time of year.”.

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Answering as to why there were no alternative events in place, the organisers said that this would not be viable due to their limited budget, with Al Thompson saying: “Even if we had indoor spaces on standby, we would only be able to cater for a very small percentage of the audience who have booked tickets.”

Unique Assembly also believes that the “centrepiece” of the event which is said to be worth upwards of £50 million to the economy must be kept in tact in order for the city to remain a major tourist attraction for it’s Hogmanay celebrations.

The organisation believes the new year celebrations have retained their popularity due to the global reach of images of the midnight fireworks above Edinburgh Castle.

However, they have warned that the event requires road closures and crowd control measures to be provided in the city centre to ensure public safety if a fireworks display is to be put on above the iconic landmark.

Al Thompson continues, saying that the famous backdrop of Edinburgh Castle and an impressive fireworks display will naturally lead to large crowds descending on the city centre and “as soon as you have that, you have to put in the infrastructure and events to keep people safe and keep people entertained. That’s the formula that has worked for more than 30 years and is still keeping people coming here.”.

In order to ensure the event continues running in the future, Al Thompson has called on the Scottish government to increase its funding for the event.