Concern as crowd gathers for gender reveal party in park

Acrowd gathered at Baxter Park yesterday for what was thought to be a gender reveal party. Witnesses say more than 30 people were seen in the Dundee park.

The crowd also let off pink smoke.

The gathering led to a fierce debate, with some suggesting the crowd was not sufficiently socially distanced.

While rules in Scotland allow for gatherings of up to 20 for funerals and up to five for weddings, no exceptions have been made for other events.

Such parties – when soonto-be parents gather friends and families to unveil the gender of their unborn baby – have become more popular in recent years.

They include something pink or blue being revealed, commonly through coloured smoke cannons, balloons and confetti.

One Stobswell resident who spotted the crowd yesterday afternoon said it made her feel “unsafe”.

“I think there were 30plus people there,” she said.

“I don’t think I could see anybody wearing masks or social distancing, they were sat in big clumps together.

“At first we thought it was some kind of wedding but then they started counting down, three two, one, and we got confused.

“The big cannon went off and all the pink smoke came out so we knew it was a gender reveal party.

“After that they all got up and were hugging each other and everything, they must have stood there for at least 10 minutes.

“It makes you feel quite unsafe when you’re out, makes you want to not go out in public.”

The witness said such events should be streamed online until lockdown restrictions are eased.

“It’s the type of thing that can just go on Facebook go on livestream or something,” she said.

“There were no police there or anything either.

“I didn’t even know this was something people in the UK did, I always thought it was an American thing.”

Others on social media welcomed the event, and praised those attending for enjoying the occasion outdoors rather than in an enclosed space.

Police said the gathering had not been reported to them.

“It makes you feel quite unsafe when you’re out

Pink smoke at the gathering in Baxter Park at which many people were thought to be without face masks.