Rain leads to Taste of Edinburgh event being called off

The annual event had expected to serve up an array of gourmet dishes to as many as 30,000 visitors, but the torrential rain on Saturday left the site in an unsafe state.

Organisers had been prepared for wet weather, and as well as advising visitors to wear wellies had made preparations to ensure the event was not spoiled, with temporary roadways built for vehicle access, and pedestrian walkways created protect the ground.

In the end however the sheer amount of rain proved too great, and organisers were forced to admit the “challenging” conditions had left them no choice.

After the site was severely flooded, and on advice from Health and Safety experts and the Council Parks Department, the decision was taken to cancel the show.

Justin Clarke, CEO of Taste Festivals said: “Despite all our planning, over the last 24 hours we have experienced some extremely heavy rainfall and our site at The Meadows has become severely flooded. We have been working throughout the night with our Health and Safety experts and The City of Edinburgh Council Parks Department to do what we can to make the site operational, but despite all our efforts we have been forced to cancel the show.

“This has not been an easy decision and we are all absolutely devastated. So much hard work has gone into making this show happen with the event team, sponsors, restaurants, suppliers and exhibitors all going above and beyond. “Saturday and Sunday tickets will be refunded, but at this current time we would ask visitors to bear with us as we deal with some very challenging conditions on site. We will be in touch with all ticket holders early next week to arrange refunds.

“The site is currently unsafe for entry, but we are working hard to organise access for exhibitors and restaurants as soon as possible.

“We would like to thank everyone for the patience, support and understanding, the people of Scotland have been truly amazing.”