War of words flares after Hogmanay organisers are ditched
The organisers of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations since their inception have hit out after losing the right to stage the world-famous festival.
Unique Events, which created the event with the city council in 1993, has been stripped of the contract to produce the three-day festival days after it was named the nation’s best cultural event at Visitscotland’s Thistle Awards.
Fringe promoters Underbelly have been handed control of the event, which has been hit by a significant budget cut from the city council, for the next three years.
The news provoked an angry response from Unique, which said the council had prioritised commercial benefits over the quality and safety of the event, the future of which it says has been at risk.
However, Underbelly insisted it had “hugely ambitious” plans to expand and grow the winter festivals.
A statement from Unique said: “Despite winning on quality, programme and experience, Unique were unsuccessful due to the proposed pricing of the contract.
“We believe the almost 20 per cent reduction in council subsidy, coupled with dramatically increased event costs present a very real threat to the Hogmanay festival. We’re deeply concerned for the future of Hogmanay and believe it runs the risk of losing its international status.”
The rival firms joined forces four years ago to secure a £1.3 million deal to run the Christmas and Hogmanay festivals, with Underbelly in charge of the former. Under its stewardship, the Christmas festival has expanded into St Andrew Square and George Square, with the introduction of Fringe-style shows and the free “Street of Light” event.
The city council has decided to appoint just one firm to take charge of the two events, which will have an overall subsidy of just £813,000. The new deal will see Underbelly take responsibility for the costs of policing the Hogmanay celebrations for the 25th programme of festivities.
Underbelly said: “We’ve hugely enjoyed helping to develop Edinburgh’s Christmas for the last four years and we couldn’t be more excited about the next three years. We’re honoured to be building on the extraordinary work and success of Unique Events since the start of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay. We look forward to announcing our plans for both events in due course.
“We can, however, confidently say that our plans for both events are exciting and hugely ambitious and will see an expansion and growth of the winter festivals rather than any diminishing of them.”
A spokeswoman for the
0 Edinburgh’s Hogmanay party will see new organisers council said it would not be responding to Unique’s criticism of the decision to award the contract to Underbelly.
Richard Lewis, festivals and events champion, said: “The appointment of these contracts is confirmation for the city that, despite the financial pressures facing the council, these important events will continue to operate for the benefit of the people of Edinburgh and our many thousands of visitors. I’m sure Underbelly’s activities will build on the huge success of the winter festivals to date.”