Aberdeen’s Hogmanay events have been cancelled as restrictions are brought in for hospitality venues in an attempt to curb Covid after Christmas.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced all public events will have a cap on numbers – limited to 500 for outdoor events from December 26.
This means that organisers have had to pull plans for their Hogmanay celebrations, as the Scottish Government urges people to stay at home and limit social interactions.
Aberdeen City Council confirmed that this year’s Hogmanay Street Party has been cancelled.
A spokesman said: “Steps had been taken to ensure that this event would be able to continue safely, however, due to rising Covid cases and in response to the latest Scottish Government rules, the event will no longer go ahead on public safety grounds.”
The Hogmanay Ceilidh at the Beach Ballroom has also been cancelled. The council have said all ticket holders will be refunded in full over the next two days.
Read more: Aberdeen say limit on crowds at sports events over festive period will cost them £500,000
Meanwhile, organisers of Buchan Radio’s Hogmanay Bash in Peterhead have not made a decision yet following the announcement this afternoon.
Ronnie Arthur, the main organiser of the event explained that they might limit the Hogmanay Bash to 500 tickets.
He said: “We’re just away to have a team meeting and speak to a few people and see what we’re going to do.
“We’re not ruling out cancelling it as of yet, we might just go with the 500, but we’ll need to speak to the ticket providers and see how many tickets are already sold.
“If it’s viable and we can go ahead with it limited then we’ll do that but the decision has not been made yet.”
Mr Arthur said a decision will be made by Wednesday morning at the latest.
Indoor standing events will be limited to 100 people, meanwhile seated events will be limited to 200.
Restrictions are ‘closing us without actually closing us’
Today’s announcement also impacted the hospitality industry, with restrictions being put in place on businesses from December 27.
Table service will return to hospitality venues that serve alcohol and the one metre distancing will also return.
The first minister advised that no more than three households should meet at indoor public places at one time. These restrictions will be in place for three weeks.
Stuart McPhee, director of Siberia Bar & Hotel and spokesman for Aberdeen Hospitality Together explained that the situation looks “pretty grim” moving into January.
He said: “Everyone’s being advised to stay away from us regardless and then they’re also getting these restrictions on top of that, it’s almost closing us without actually closing us.
“Rishi Sunak had an announcement today as well and it would have been great if there had been more support forthcoming for staff, which I think is still a missing piece here.
“If we’re changing our operation, and everywhere will be doing the same thing, in terms of staff numbers you may not need the same amounts to do table service.
“It’s going to be a challenging time for us.”
Mr McPhee also explained that the three household guidance will be restrictive in terms of bookings they will be allowed to take and highlighted that he doesn’t know what this means for nightclubs.
No clarity around support for hospitality
Stephen Gow, vice-chairman of Aberdeen City and Shire Hotels’ Association expressed concerns that there is still no clarity around support and how it will “trickle down” to support hospitality businesses.
He said: “The devil is always in the detail. Earlier this week, the Scottish Government announced £100m for hospitality sector support. However, within 24 hours this was watered down to include the whole supply chain and wedding businesses.
“These sectors are obviously also in great need, but the headline statements don’t always feed through in support terms in the manner initially outlined.”
Mr Gow explained they are still awaiting guidance around how hospitality in Scotland can operate going forward. He believes that the stay at home advice has already greatly impacted the trade, now they must plan for changes after Boxing Day.
He said: “For example, hoteliers in Scotland will all be scratching their heads to work out if their Hogmanay events can go ahead with bands and dancing?
“Many businesses will have been relying on a buoyant Christmas period to take them through the lean months of early 2022 which will follow. Everyone needs clarity of what will be available to them, how they can claim and how quickly this funding will be received.
“However, previous support funds have been administered by local authorities and it’s unlikely that they will recall their staff from holidays to administer these payments speedily for businesses in need.”
