Locals are fuming after one of Britain’s biggest annual New Year’s Eve parties was scrapped amid the cost of living crisis.
The Red Hot Highland Fling, which normally drew crowds of 10,000, has been a Hogmanay highlight since 2008.
When ticketing was introduced, numbers were limited to 5,000.
READ MORE: Car crooks – who pinched three cars a week for seven months – jailed for 18 years
Staged in Inverness at the Northern Meeting Park on the Riverside, it was billed as Scotland’s biggest free Hogmanay concert – but now cash-strapped bosses have pulled the plug, as reported by Need To Know.
Highland Council said the Inverness Events and Festivals Working Group confirmed the city’s Common Good Fund could no longer support a public Hogmanay event.
Inverness provost Glynis Sinclair said: “Sadly, we have come to the end of an era of the Red Hot Highland Fling Hogmanay event.
“It is with regret that we confirm that this major event in the Inverness Events and Festivals programme will no longer feature on the winter festival calendar of events.
“We have hosted some amazing bands over the years with fantastic crowds and I would like to thank everyone who has attended an Inverness Hogmanay event since it was first hosted in 2008.”
She said that efforts had been made to work with local businesses and event organisers to create a new city-centre Hogmanay celebration, but no proposals came forward.
She added: “While we regret the end of a publicly funded Inverness Hogmanay event, the Events and Festivals Working Group will continue to support the Highland hospitality and business sector, particularly during the shoulder months October to March, by creating new and exciting crowd pleasing events.”
But locals are distraught.
One said: “So sad, that event has contributed so much to the local economy over the years.
“I feel sorry for the tourists who come to Inverness for a traditional Scottish Hogmanay.
“There is nothing – embarrassing really.”
Another raged: “So embarrassing for Inverness.
“No Christmas market. No Halloween events except for us locals who try and accommodate like myself.
“No decent Christmas events. No Hogmanay celebrations. No night clubs.
“What else can it offer tourists and locals except for tourist shops and bookies? Let alone its locals.
“Zero attractions for those who live here or those who visit.”
A third added: “I cannot believe this. What an unbelievable decision.
“Tourists as well as locals who pay taxes for entertainment really enjoy this.
“Why does HRC council try to divert people to Christmas markets elsewhere and also to leave Inverness to enjoy forms of musical entertainment? I’m gobsmacked.
“Who voted this through if they dare place their stupid heads above the parapet.
“The worst decision in years.
“Lousy decision makers.”
READ MORE: Lost castle rediscovered after 800 years – and it was once home to kings
