Festival in the Sky fails to hit a high note with diners

IT WAS billed as the unmissable experience of this year's Edinburgh festival season.

• Diners were suspended above West Princes Street Gardens

But a major new attraction offering the chance to enjoy an al-fresco meal 100ft above one of the capital's most popular beauty spots has failed to take off.

Festival in the Sky, which has seen a 22-seater table suspended from a huge crane in West Princes Street Gardens for the last month, has attracted just a fraction of the crowds it was capable of handling.

Dozens of "flights" drew only a handful of diners, even at peak times and in good weather.

Organisers were forced to slash the cost of a host of packages, originally up to 95, to just 32.50 in a bid to fill seats.

Meals were dropped completely from some slots in favour of drinks-only "bubble in the sky" deals, costing just 17.50, introduced to try to bring in the crowds and generate word of mouth. But it is thought potential customers were put off by concerns over poor value for money and the fact each flight lasted only half an hour.

It emerged earlier this week that a major new Fringe venue in West Princes Street Gardens, run by veteran promoters Assembly, was expected to lose money after failing to sell enough tickets.

Festival in the Sky was brought to Edinburgh by Glasgow-based PR and events company, Dada, following successful visits to the likes of Las Vegas, Dubai, Paris and Monaco. The attraction sees diners strapped into leather armchairs, which can swivel 180 degrees above the ground.

It was hoped to attract 12,000 diners during its month-long run, with flights scheduled to run from 10am-9:30pm every day. But The Scotsman found widespread availability for group bookings over the weekend - traditionally one of the busiest of the festivals season.

One member of staff said: "We had been expecting to be a lot busier. It's been a bit of struggle most days."

At the time of the attraction's launch in May, Oli Norman, Dada's managing director, said: "There's no doubt Festival in the Sky will be one of the biggest and most talked-about attractions at the Edinburgh Festival this year."

Yesterday, Mr Norman refused to answer questions over how many tickets were sold, how many packages were dropped or had their prices cut, and how many flights had to be cancelled due to a lack of bookings.

A spokeswoman said: "As far as we're concerned Festival in the Sky has been a huge success. We will be making an announcement about the number of tickets sold at the end of the week.The plan at the moment is for Festival in the Sky to return next year."

Donald Reid, food and drink editor at The List magazine, said: "With this kind of thing, you are paying for the experience more than anything, but I do think it's a bit of a gimmick at the end of the day and there are probably just too many other things going on in Edinburgh in August."