Money woes behind cancellation of Red Hot Highland Fling amid ‘increased costings for infrastructure’ as critics say it is time to ditch the event permanently
Money is again behind problems faced by the once popular Red Hot Highland Fling after the cancellation of the event for this Hogmanay as Highland Council says it will return in 2025/26.
The council claimed that limited access to the Northern Meeting Park and Bught Park was a factor but so was the “consequent increased costings for infrastructure” that led to the “very difficult decision” to axe it this year.
That decision was taken by the events and festivals working group led by the Inverness Provost, Councillor Glynis Sinclair who oversaw the much touted rebranding of the event last year as the “biggest Ceilidh in the world”.
But alongside the rebranding was the introduction of entry fees of £12.50 for the first time that some say contributed to the poor turnout of around 5000 for an event that at its peak attracted three times that.
Cllr Sinclair said: "We have decided that we will reserve our resources for an exciting return of the much loved Red Hot Highland Fling in 2025 when we will have all the benefits of a redeveloped Northern Meeting Park.
"Planning is already underway for 2025 with exciting developments to the Inverness Events Programme which we look forward to sharing about the return of the Red Hot Highland Fling on the 31 December, 2025."
Earlier this year, we revealed that the most recent Fling needed a £100,000 subsidy to break even, despite charging entry for the first time – in what is a key concern for some councillors.
Inverness South Councillor Duncan Macpherson, who once sat on the Inverness events and festivals working group, believes the newly introduced entry fee has decimated attendances.
“I no longer serve on the Events and Festivals committee and haven’t done since the current SNP-led Administration took over the running of the Highland Council in 2022,” he said.
“When I last served on the committee, we had an enthusiastic and dedicated events team and we managed to get 15,000 people together at Hogmanay for a very successful and much appreciated free entry Red Hot Highland Fling with headliners Skipinnish, Torridon and Dorec-a-Belle.
“I was therefore deeply disappointed to see the introduction of ticketing entry for a hugely successful event, for no apparent reason, which had the unintended consequences of resulting in bringing the number of people attending the Hogmanay event down by a whopping 12,000 people to an audience of only 3000, which simply isn’t financially sustainable.
“This was followed by last year’s event which many observers agreed was reduced in stature compared to all the previous years, yet the entry was only with paid for tickets.
“Many of those attending last year’s event were tourists and visitors to the Highland capital which brought the numbers up slightly to around 5000 however that was still 10,000 people short of the previous totals attending Hogmanay events.
“I hope that after this proposed one year hiatus the Hogmanay event returns to the Highland Capital with renewed impetus and support.”
Leader of the opposition, Councillor Alasdair Christie said the cancellation offers the right opportunity to rethink the whole approach having previously argued that spending so much money on five hours entertainment was unjustifiable in a cost of living crisis.
Cllr Christie: “This is a unique opportunity for the Council to review the amount of money the common good fund contributes to this event, in past years it has been over £100,000 for five hours entertainment which personally I find to be a waste of money.
“The common good fund gives grants to many local charities and community groups helping Inverness folk which is far more deserving of the funding than the Hogmanay event and helps vulnerable people.
“The committee should ensure that ticket sales and sponsorship fully cover the cost of the event in 2025”
