EDINBURGH’S world-famous pagan Beltane fire festival is to
be scrapped this year.
The plug has been pulled on the event which annually draws crowds of up to
15,000 people to the city’s Calton Hill.
The decision has been taken by organisers of what is reputed to be Europe’s
biggest fire festival over the cost of staging the event amid claims of city
council "bureaucracy".
City officials have been accused of deliberately blocking attempts to charge
revellers for entry to the event for the first time in a bid to help pay for
soaring running costs.
A lack of support from culture and leisure chiefs has been cited as the main
reason for the demise of the event, held on the last evening of April to
celebrate the start of summer.
The festival has had its critics because of the amount of rubbish it generates,
disruption to local residents and fears over the safety of revellers.
Council officials had insisted the Beltane Fire Society apply for a lease for
the first time and meet a string of conditions.
The organisers were also told they would need a public entertainment licence if
they planned to charge revellers.
But council leaders have angrily rejected claims that they had decided in
recent months that the event was no longer welcome on Calton Hill and suggested
the society’s financial problems were the real reason for its cancellation.
Herbert Coutts, the city’s director of leisure and recreation, said the
council’s main concerns were public safety and potential damage to historic
monuments on Calton Hill.
Around 300 performers take part in Beltane, which has always been free of
charge, with the society relying on donations and fundraising.
However, Helen Moore, chair of the Beltane society, said 80 per cent of last
year’s budget was spent meeting council conservation and safety requirements
and that costs were likely to "spiral" this year because of the steep
rise in securing public liability insurance for such events.
Ms Moore claimed the culture and leisure department had "hampered"
attempts to secure official funding for the event for the first time since 1997
and that officials had deliberately blocked their attempts to use Calton Hill
this year.
"We’re completely gutted. This has been a unique and authentic festival by
the people, for the people, which is being prevented from happening in what’s
supposed to be a festival city.
" The night provided one of the most spectacular events of the year for up
to 15,000 people and attracts national and international tourists.
"We received a letter back in January from Herbert Coutts expressing
concerns about giving permission for the use of Calton Hill this year, but they
were largely misinformed.
"We’ve had a very good track record on public safety and it’s us who pays
for the costs of cleaning up after the event.
"We’ve also worked very closely with the likes of the council’s public
safety department, Rock Steady Security, Lothian and Borders Police and Fire
Brigade over the years.
"However, neither the festival’s excellent safety record nor the
festival’s international profile have proved sufficient to satisfy the council
that the event is worth supporting." Angus Farquar, founder of the
festival, said: "The council’s failure to place one of Scotland’s most
popular grass-roots festivals at the centre of its festivals strategy is a
total disgrace."
Mr Coutts said the council had wanted to "tighten" the conditions
surrounding the society’s use of Calton Hill but insisted he had agreed, in
principle, it could go ahead.
"We were prepared to approve their application if they could meet these
conditions and, as far as I was aware, they were saying that they could."
Councillor Steve Cardownie, the city’s festivals tsar, said: " Beltane has
been treated exactly the same as any other organisation and it’s nonsense to
say anyone has deliberately blocked their plans.
"T his event has grown in size over the years, there have been growing
concerns over the safety of people who go to it, it creates quite a bit of
disruption caused by people drumming into the early hours and has had financial
problems."
A spokeswoman for Edinburgh and Lothians Tourist Board said: "It’s sad and
disappointing that the Beltane Fire Festival has been cancelled this year and
we hope that it will be resurrected in the future.
"The event is one of the few in Edinburgh’s eclectic events calendar which
celebrates our Celtic roots and heritage. It provides fantastic pictures which
are beamed around the world."