Taste of Edinburgh festival called off after flooded site deemed unsafe

Flooded: Organisers say the 'site is currently unsafe for entry'.Andy Arthur

Organisers of the Taste of Edinburgh food festival have reluctantly cancelled the event for the entire weekend.

The event, which showcases Scottish food and produce, was intended to run from Friday until Sunday but after "extreme rainfall" overnight on Friday the site was considered 'severely flooded'.

It had been hoped that the floodwaters would drain sufficiently for Sunday's programme of events to go ahead but organisers have now abandoned any hope of that happening.

Justin Clarke, CEO of Taste Festivals said: "Despite all our planning, over the last 24 hours we have experienced some extremely heavy rainfall and our site at The Meadows has become severely flooded.

"We have been working throughout the night with our Health and Safety experts and The City of Edinburgh Council Parks Department to do what we can to make the site operational, but despite all our efforts we have been forced to cancel the show.

"This has not been an easy decision and we are all absolutely devastated. So much hard work has gone into making this show happen with the event team, sponsors, restaurants, suppliers and exhibitors all going above and beyond.

"The site is currently unsafe for entry, but we are working hard to organise access for exhibitors and restaurants as soon as possible."

The organisers intend to make refunds available to Saturday and Sunday ticketholders but asked that visitors "bear with us as we deal with some very challenging conditions on site", adding: "We will be in touch with all ticket holders early next week to arrange refunds."

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