Campaigners demand action to curb the ‘hazard’ of Edinburgh’s silent disco craze
Large, disruptive groups ‘bulldozing’ pedestrians in city
Businesses and residents in Edinburgh’s historic Old Town are campaigning for a clampdown on silent disco walking groups over claims they are turning “gullible” visitors to the city into “complete idiots”.
Council chiefs are facing growing calls to curb the singing and dancing antics of large groups amid claims they are “creating a hazard to themselves, other pedestrians and passing traffic”.
The Edinburgh Old Town Association (EOTA) and the Old town community council are demanding strict enforcement of where and when the silent disco walking tours can operate amid claims some that some “unrelated gatherings” are now “bulldozing” people out of the way.
City council chiefs have admitted that the growing popularity of silent discos has “compounded” problems with overcrowding during peak festival periods. Congestion concerns have led to the drawing up of radical road closures, relocated bus services and suspended taxi ranks this year.
However, the authority insists it is powerless to bring many operators under control due to a loophole in the law which means they do not need a street trading licence if they only sell tickets online.
A new EOTA bulletin states: “Silent discos are a fairly new idea for extracting money from tourists and making them behave like complete idiots.
“Groups of gullible punters are fitted out with earphones through which disco music is played to them. a group leader encourages them to sing and dance along to music being pumped into their ears.
“Some groups are well-managed. Others are a hazard to themselves, other pedestrians and passing traffic.”
A separate dossier for the authority compiled by the community council states: “Some of these represent huge unregulated ‘public gatherings’ of people that completely take over footpaths, bulldozing regular users out of the way. Tours over, say, ten people, need licensed and regulated in number and timing.”
Bill Cowan, planning and transport secretary at the community council, said: “The problems with silent discos have got dramatically worse over the last couple of years, especially the unregulated ones.
“They are anything but silent. You can’t hear any music, but that doesn’t stop the participants from yelling, shouting and screaming as you would at a real disco. If you’re at a disco, you’re in an enclosed space and under supervision. These people are prancing along pavements a metre wide. If you meet 40 of them [while you are] pushing a shopping trolley up a hill it’s really serious. The council needs to figure out a way to control them.”
EOTA treasurer Rosemary Mann said: “A silent disco is a misnomer. The one thing they’re not is silent. Although the guide speaks to the group through headphones, they shout and clap along.
“They’re incredibly noisy and disruptive, far more so ghost tours. They’re also anti-social. They can block a complete street corner.”
A council spokeswoman said: “We have limited powers to regulate walking tours, including silent discos, under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. We encourage such operators to be considerate of the public and advise it is best practice to seek a licence, in particular to guard against the risk of action if one-off payment is taken in the street.”
COMMENT “They’re incredibly noisy and disruptive, far more so than ghost tours. They’re also anti-social. They can block a complete street corner.”
ROSEMARY MANN
Edinburgh Old Town Association
Stirling has the towering Wallace Monument, Edinburgh its festivals, Dundee a brand new, cutting-edge museum, Glasgow its famous patter, while the Highlands, with its romantic glens and history, sells itself – so many people want to go “over the sea to Skye” that hotels are charging up to £380 a night.
Scotland is a beautiful place to live, work and visit – a fact that persuades tourists to come here in their millions, with the total annual number roughly equivalent to 60 per cent of our population. However, for some strange reason, the south-west is often overlooked by other Scots and visitors alike.
The news that 55 per cent of young people want to leave the area is an indication of just how much the region has been neglected, how much it does not feel like a place to make a life, get a job or start a business. One councillor in the area, Adam Wilson, described the survey as a “warning shot”, saying that if “young people leave and do not come back we will see a number of crises across our region”.
Reversing this trend will be difficult. It’s hard to change perceptions about whether an area is a “place to be”, but boosting tourism seems like a good place to start. Publicising
the attractions of Dumfries and Galloway could attract more tourists – some of whom may struggle to find affordable accommodation in other parts of Scotland – and that would mean jobs for local people.
But it could also change the mindset of those looking to set up or relocate a company. Doubtless office space is cheaper there than in Scotland’s main cities. The rise of internet shopping has had a devastating effect on some urban retailers, but the flipside is that companies can be based almost anywhere they like and sell to anyone on the planet.
Dumfries and Galloway is an extraordinarily beautiful part of Scotland. The Lonely Planet guide waxes lyrical about its “gentle hills and lush valleys”, “idyllic towns”, “famous gardens” and “the dreamlike ruins of Caerlaverock Castle”.
It absolutely can be a “place to be” – Scotland’s answer to the Cotswolds, perhaps – if only a way can be found to make people aware of its undoubted qualities. Many parts of this country are struggling with “over-tourism”. It seems obvious that promoting Dumfries and Galloway – as Peter Irvine, who turned Edinburgh’s Hogmanay into a global event, recently suggested – would help solve two problems to the benefit of us all.