Plug pulled on festival due to be staged at Outlander location
The plug has been pulled on a 6,000-capacity festival due to be held in the grounds of an 18th century mansion in East Lothian - less than two months before it was due to be held.
Delays in easing Covid restrictions in Scotland have been blamed for the scrapping of Out East at Gosford House - which was used for the filming of Outlander and Princess Switch movies.
Organisers say they had reached a "turning point" in having to spend money on infrastructure and fees for acts without knowing if restrictions would be eased in time.
Audiences numbers at outdoor events are currently capped at just 2000 at Level 0 under Scotland’s route map out of lockdown. East Lothian is currently at Level 1.
Mainland Scotland is not expected to reach Level 0 until 19 July at the earliest – three weeks later than envisaged and less than three weeks before the event was due to be held.
The event – billed as “a new family friendly festival for the carefree, the intrepid and the brave” when it was announced – had been due to go ahead with social distancing measures in place.
It is understood that problems had also arisen behind the scenes over the proposed site of the festival, which Sister Sledge, Ministry of Sound Classical, Glasvegas, The Futureheads and Callum Beattie were all due to appear at.
Organisers have admitted they are now planning for the event to happen next year, but at another location, in the grounds of Dalkeith House in Midothian. Both Sister Sledge and Ministry of Sound Classical have been confirmed as headliners.
An official announcement said: “It is with great sadness that we must announce Out East will no longer be taking place at Gosford House this August and will be postponed until 2022.
“We have been closely monitoring the current situation and the announcement that level 0 is being pushed back by three weeks means we simply cannot move forward with our plans.
“The health and safety of everyone involved with and attending the festival is paramount, and we are at a turning point where equipment costs, infrastructure and artist deposits etc become unrecoverable unless we act now,” the announcement added.