Organisers pull plug on Edinburgh's Connect music festival this summer

The Connect festival was relocated to the Royal Highland Centre in 2022

The plug has been pulled on one of Scotland's biggest musical festivals this summer.

DF Concerts has confirmed Connect, which has been staged at the Royal Highland Centre at Ingliston for the past two years, will not be going ahead this year.

The company, which also organises the TRNSMT festival in Glasgow, had revived Connect at Ingliston on the last weekend in August after staging two previous editions in Inveraray in 2007 and 2008.

The National, the Chemical Brothers, Mogwai, The Twilight Sad, Jon Hopkins and Idlewild played the 2022 festival. Last year’s line-up featured Primal Scream, Boygenius, Young Fathers, Franz Ferdinand and Public Service Broadcasting.

However, in both years the three-day event coincided with the last weekend of Edinburgh's major summer arts festivals, including the Fringe, and did not sell out at its 15,000-capacity Ingliston home.

DF, which has insisted Connect is being rested this year, will instead be focusing on a series of large-scale concerts at the Ingliston site as part of its Summer Sessions series, with Becky Hill and Catfish and the Bottlemen lined up for this August. Shows by The Killers and Paolo Nutini were staged at the Ingliston site after last year's festival.

DF recently announced a new series of Summer Sessions shows at City Park, in Stirling, with Shania Twain, Tom Jones and Busted all confirmed so far, and is also involved in a new weekend-long festival in Glasgow being curated by the band Belle and Sebastian.

Primal Scream played the Connect festival at Ingliston last summer. Picture: Damien Thomson

The UK festivals scene has been hit with a string of call-offs for this year, prompting the Association of Independent Festivals to call for urgent government intervention to help events copy with rising costs, debts incurred during the pandemic and slow ticket sales.

A spokeswoman for DF Concerts said: “We've decided to take a break with Connect in 2024 to take the time to build the next edition of the festival, to make sure it flourishes, evolves, and continues to offer wonderful experiences for all the fans.

"As the venue was so well received, is very accessible, and was a delight for those attending the two most recent editions of Connect – as well as for the stunning concerts with The Killers and Paolo Nutini – we will in the meantime continue hosting Edinburgh Summer Sessions at the same location.

“So far, Becky Hill and Catfish and the Bottlemen have been announced with supporting line-ups and more days to be added soon.

Franz Ferdinand performed at the Connect festival in Edinburgh last year. Picture: Ryan Johnston

"We hope to deliver a similar experience at these shows which, in the future, will sit alongside further editions of Connect Festival – utilising the grounds and excellent facilities that are quite unique for an outdoor event.”

A number of Scottish festivals were called off last year, including Doune the Rabbit Hole and Otherlands, while it emerged last month the plug had been pulled on Doonhame, in Dumfries.

However, plans were recently announced for a brand new outdoor festival in Pitlochry, Perthshire, which Idlewild, Tide Lines Cammy Barnes, Skerryvore and The View are all due to appear at.

When Connect was revived two years ago by DF, chief executive Geoff Ellis said the site had been chosen for its accessibility to people from around Scotland.

He said at the time: “The Royal Highland Centre provides a purpose-built event site that is readily accessible by public transport for each of the three days. This not only makes it easy for festival goers to attend, but hugely supports our ambition to deliver a more sustainable festival now and into the future.”