Inverness Cancels Red Hot Highland Fling Hogmanay Celebration Permanently
Inverness, Scotland – Highland Council has announced the permanent cancellation of the Red Hot Highland Fling, Inverness’s annual Hogmanay event, citing unsustainable funding and a lack of viable alternative proposals. The decision ends a tradition of public New Year’s Eve celebrations in the city stretching back to 2008.
The event, once scotland’s largest free Hogmanay concert, previously attracted crowds of up to 10,000 people before transitioning to a ticketed system with capacity limited to approximately 5,000. Last year’s event was already cancelled due to funding and capacity concerns.
According to the local authority, the Inverness Events and Festivals Working Group steadfast the Inverness Common Good Fund could no longer support a public Hogmanay event. Inverness Provost Glynis Sinclair expressed regret over the decision, stating, “sadly, we have come to the end of an era of the Red Hot Highland Fling Hogmanay Event.It is indeed with regret that we confirm that this major event in the Inverness Events and Festivals program will no longer feature on the winter festival calendar of events.”
The working group reportedly engaged with local hospitality businesses in an attempt to develop a replacement event, but no suitable proposals were submitted. “Unfortunately, no proposals were forthcoming and therefore there is no longer the justification to invest funds from the Inverness Common Good Fund into a Hogmanay event,” Provost Sinclair added.
The Red Hot Highland Fling was held annually in the Northern Meeting Park on Inverness’s Riverside.
