No Winter Festival a ‘sensible’ act
present circumstances large gatherings of closely packed crowds of people are a complete no-no.
“I hope that things might be better by next year and that the winter festival will bounce back bigger and better than ever before.”
Councillor Chris Ahern said:“I find this a regrettable situation but one I agree is a sensible decision.
“Because preparing for the festival requires a huge amount of planning and investment, to not put a stop to it now would potentially have been a big waste of money.”
Councillor Andrew Parrott said: “The decision is a cautious and sensible one in light of the present circumstances.
“The Perth Winter Festival is all about crowds of local people and visitors enjoying themselves and crowds are one of the things that we cannot do just now.
“It is, of course, three or four months until the winter festival and we don’t know where we will be with the pandemic by then but we are five months on from lockdown in March and I suspect few of us thought there would still be restrictions now.
“Sadly, while the pandemic is in some measure controlled now, it is not defeated and in Scotland as in much of Europe cases are actually rising again.”
Keith McNamara, depute director of the council’s housing and environment service, said: “Current guidance from the Scottish Government prohibits mass gatherings in public places.
“While we do not know what the guidance will be in a few months, the current uncertainty, coupled with the level of work required to plan the winter festival, source suppliers and book acts, would require a level of resource that we cannot dedicate while continuing to respond to the current pandemic.”
He added:“There will be Christmas lights in the city centre but there will be no official ceremony to turn them on.
“The guidance regarding mass gatherings applies to all events, including communitybased events.
“I would urge any groups planning events, while we do not know what the guidance will be in a few months’time, to give careful consideration of their plans in case restrictions on mass gatherings are not lifted.”