Frustration as blaze rules out street party
Organisers scramble to cancel popular event
Four months of planning went into what should have been Pitlochry’s biggest day of the year, but the fire at Fisher’s Hotel meant the street party to celebrate New Year’s Day on the main road had to be cancelled.
Organiser Graham Holmes woke to a call from police on Sunday morning, explaining the iconic Pitlochry hotel was ablaze and Atholl Road outside would be closed off for the rest of the day.
Graham, a retired bank manager, said: “January 1 is always my busiest day, I expect that being in charge of the street party committee, but this Sunday was different.
“I’ve just got in this evening from picking up the thousands of traffic cones that had been used to mark off the roadside where the crowds would have gathered. This has been a terrible disappointment.
“The police called at 7.30am to tell me there was a problem and that because of the hotel fire they had closed off Atholl Street – the spot where we were Pitlochry Street Party organiser Graham Holmes
expecting up to 5000 people to gather for 1pm.
“We normally use Fisher’s Hotel as our street party HQ. But there were nine fire engines there frantically trying to save the building.
“My first decision when I got up there was there could be no party on the main street.
Fisher’s Hotel kindly allow us to use their electricity supply and a room inside to entertain the children but that was all out of the question now. Unfortunately there was nowhere else in Pitlochry to move the event to at such short notice
“There were issues like supporting the power and the safety of such a big crowd. So my second decision was there could be no party.
“My wife and I were on the phone ‘til 10am spreading the word that the celebrations were off.
“There was a band on their way from Alloa, a clown for the children, the sound people, the electricians – everyone needed a call telling them it was all cancelled.
“The street party committee has been getting all this together for the last four months.
“It began as a way to celebrate the millennium but it was such a success we kept it going and did it every year since.
“People come from all over the country. We don’t charge an entrance fee so it’s impossible to calculate exact numbers, but I’d say anything from three to five thousand folk attend.
“We pass a bucket around and those who take food and mulled wine give a donation.
“We also have a big raffle, with 21 A previous staging of the popular Pitlochry Street Party prizes valued at £50 to £200 each – and volunteers had sold over 1000 tickets prior to the event.
“We’ve decided to draw it when the committee have a meeting this Wednesday [January 4].
“The only good news is those who bought a ticket in advance have highly improved odds of winning a prize.
“In other years we have sold a further three to four thousand tickets during the street party.”
Graham explained that while the street party committee will possibly have to pay for the services of band and the food providers, there’s enough money in the kitty to go ahead with the event next year.
He said: “We are not broke, 2018’s street party is not in danger as we have funds in reserve.
“But our sadness is we normally donate any surplus to running costs made on the day to local good causes.
“With the 2017 event cancelled we are very sorry not to be in a position to put the £2000 to £3000 to Pitlochry charities.
“The cancellation is a huge disappointment, so many people worked so hard.”
The street party committee has been getting all this together for four months