Edinburgh’s popular Castle of Light event has been cancelled and will not return due to Scotland’s unpredictable weather.
The immersive experience has been running for six years and wowed visitors during the festive season with it’s dazzling light light displays projected onto the walls of Edinburgh Castle.
It had attracted more than 200,000 visitors since it was established in 2019. However last year’s event was hit with winter storms and high winds and organisers had to fork out cancellations and refunds.
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) said the event is “no longer sustainable” and confirmed it will not return in the future.
A spokesperson said: “Castle of Light has required a very substantial planning, operational and financial commitment from HES teams across the organisation.
“The event is also highly weather-dependent. High winds and storms have caused cancellations in previous years, leading to large numbers of refunds, additional staff time, and financial uncertainty.
When all of these factors are considered together, the event is no longer sustainable for HES, and the decision was taken by Executive Leadership not to extend the contract for Castle of Light.
“Castle of Light has been a fantastic part of Edinburgh’s winter offer for the last six years, but will not be going ahead this year as we take the chance to explore new Christmas offers at Edinburgh Castle, investing in improving our festive daytime offer with brand new decorations, family activities and our popular Christmas afternoon teas.”
HES worked on the event with with Edinburgh designer Andy McGregor and used local production companies including War Productions, Double Take Projections and NL Productions.