Flooding forces cancellation of Hallowe'en Spectacular at Ness Islands in Inverness
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THE two-day Hallowe'en Spectacular which brings huge crowds to the Ness Islands in Inverness has been cancelled because of torrential rain.
The event, which was set to run on Thursday and Friday evening, was initially cut back to just the Friday following concerns over the high level of the River Ness.
But Highland Council has now been forced to pull the event completely after torrential overnight rain sent the river levels even higher.
Inverness Events Manager Gerry Reynolds said: “There has been quite a lot of localised flooding in the Inverness area overnight and Ness Islands has been badly affected with all the performance areas and the majority of the paths now underwater.
"Water is now pouring on to Ness Islands directly from the River Ness as predicted by the Met Office’s flood warning; and we have had to admit that we have been beaten by the weather. There simply is not anything that we can do to make this happen safely.
“We appreciate just how disappointing this news is going to be for all the families who really look forward to visiting our Halloween show; as well, of course, as all the wonderful performers, projectionists and set builders who have been preparing for months to amaze us all.
"Everybody involved in the Halloween Show is desperate to reschedule so we would ask everybody who has made their children a scary costume to hang on to them. We cannot confirm anything at the moment, but we are really determined to see if we can turn this disappointing cancellation into a postponement.”
The festivities, which would have featured 150 'ghosts and ghouls' on a 1300 metre ciruit around the islands, were expected to be the biggest yet.
Organisers had promised a host of historical ghosts, through the efforts of Eden Court, projection specialists Arts in Motion and Highland Council's lighting department.
The event was expected to bring so many visitors to the area that Highland Council had warned that extra parking restrictions would be in force in a bid to prevent congestion in the area.
The Halloween events were the first in series of events marking Inverness Winter Festival 2014, further details of which are at: http://www.invernessfestivals.com/
