Exclusive:Business chiefs demand Edinburgh stage more 'resilient' Hogmanay festival as 'plan B' needed

Business leaders have urged Edinburgh to develop more “robust and resilient” Hogmanay celebrations after the city’s flagship outdoor events fell victim to bad weather for a third time.

People on the near deserted Princes Street after all outdoor events including the street party and fireworks display planned for Hogmanay were cancelled.(Picture: Andy Buchanan/PA Wire) | PA

Leading organisations have thrown their weight behind the staging of the annual new year festival but believe it needs a "Plan B" for future years to reduce the risk of further "reputational damage" for the city.

The near deserted Princes Street on Hogmanay after all outdoor events including the street party and fireworks display were cancelled. (Picture: Andy Buchanan/PA) | PA

Senior figures have warned it would be "unwise" for the city council, which provides most of the funding for the programme, to consider scaling it back after three days of outdoor events were wiped out in the face of strong winds and Met Office weather warnings.

However, they have suggested that more indoor venues could be used to help improve the resilience of a festival said to be worth more than £50 million to the economy.

Edinburgh has been staging a Hogmanay festival since 1993. Picture: Keith Valentine

They have also claimed it is essential that the city retains its midnight fireworks on Hogmanay due to the global reach of images of the display above Edinburgh Castle.

The main 45,000 street party, an open-air concert headlined by Texas, and the six-and-a-half minute long fireworks display on Hogmanay were all called off more than 24 hours in advance after bad weather hampered the erection of outdoor stages and safety infrastructure on and around Princes Street.

The empty Ross Bandstand stage on Hogmanay after all outdoor events including the street party and fireworks were cancelled due to bad weather. | Andy Buchanan/PA Wire

The main events had only been cancelled due to high winds twice previously, in 2003-4 and 2006-7. The event was also called off in 2020 and 2021 due to pandemic restrictions, but had gradually expanded its programme in subsequent years.

This year's Hogmanay festival was due to be the third jointly organised by event producers Unique Events and Assembly on behalf of the city council.

They are under contract to deliver the Christmas and Hogmanay festivals for another two years, with the possibility of two further 12-month extensions.

The Christmas festival is run on a commercial basis, with some of the income used to help pay for Hogmanay festival, which gets just over £810,000 worth of support from the city council and £225,000 from the Scottish Government.

Liz Mcareavy, chief executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: "The winter festivals, of which Hogmanay, is a key element, help to create a year-round visitor economy and bring global attention to the city. Edinburgh's Hogmanay is one of the world’s greatest New Year celebrations.

"Hotels, restaurants and the night-time economy benefit from the influx of visitors during the festive period. Local residents also enjoy the fun and variety brought by the celebrations and events.

"Many visitors extend their stay to explore other parts of Scotland, spreading the economic benefits across the country.

"Having images of the fireworks display across the iconic cityscape of Edinburgh is a great advertisement to visit one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

"Whilst safety should always be the first priority, it is regrettable that the festival was cancelled, as some visitors travel great distances to attend and take part in the celebrations.

"I am unaware of the safety protocols and the health and safety processes that delivered the final decision.

"Some say it was premature and the wrong decision and cost the city and organisers, not only financially but also reputationally. However, the weather hampered preparations and I’m sure public safety was front: of mind.

"Abandoning future festivals based on a decision that has only occurred three times in the past 30 years would be unwise.

"Each year, the organisers look at innovative ideas to improve and enhance the visitor experience. Hopefully, this will continue, ensuring that the next festival is more robust and resilient.

"We have some great venues both centrally and on the periphery of the city. We need to keep delivering exciting and attractive programmes across the festival period."

Roddy Smith, chief executive of city centre business group Essential Edinburgh, said: "Hogmanay is a critical time of year for the city centre businesses especially our hoteliers, retailers and hospitality providers.

"It attracts thousands of residents, visitors from Scotland and the UK as well as our international guests. We need to enhance and improve the offering, not diminish it in any way.

"What I think we must learn from this year's cancellation is to have a more developed 'Plan B.'

"We have only had to cancel a couple of times in the last 20 years, so wholesale changes are not needed, just a plan for some alternative festivities if the weather defeats us and makes it unsafe to celebrate outside in large numbers.

"The city centre hotels, restaurants and bars still enjoyed a good Hogmanay although obviously footfall numbers were down. Many adapted due to the changes to ensure our revellers enjoyed their time in the city centre."

Garry Clark, development manager at the Federation of Small Businesses, said "It’s fair to say that many businesses were disappointed at the cancellation of the Hogmanay celebrations, which are a showpiece event for the city’s visitor economy and are visible the world over.

"Whilst disruption is historically rare, the cancellation of this year’s event has disappointed many participants, some of whom had travelled great distances to take part, and we cannot afford further reputational damage to the event.

"Climate change appears to be making our winter weather more unpredictable and it is sensible for the festival organisers to consider Plan B options, should the worst happen.

"Weather forecasting is not such an exact science as hindsight, so it makes sense to build a higher degree of resilience into future planning.”

Neil Ellis, chair of the Edinburgh Hotels Association, suggested the Hogmanay festival provided "excellent value money" due to the worldwide publicity it has generated and called for the fireworks display to be protected as it was a "cornerstone" of the new year festivities.

He added: "The publicity sent around the world from visitors through blogs, vlogs and other online content speaks volumes.

"The winter festivals generate significant income for all hospitality businesses allowing many of them to remain open through the very quiet months of January and February, and being able to keep our talented staff employed all year round.

"Whilst visitors were unhappy with the cancellation decision, they were accepting that the safety of everyone must come first.

"It was great to see many businesses pivot quickly to ensure they had capacity for many more at the vast array of indoor events that went ahead successfully.

"We are in Scotland and Hogmanay is in the winter so we all have to accept that unpredictable weather may be a factor."