Scottish rave forced to cancel over vaccination centre overload
Patrick Topping, Floorplan, Mella Dee and more were all slated to perform
A sell-out rave at Edinburgh’s Royal Highland Centre has been cancelled just days before the event after Nicola Sturgeon said the venue needed to be used as a vaccination centre.
The First Minister argued that it was “no longer appropriate” for the event to go ahead, which was set to see in some 3,500 people.
The venue also doubles up as the city’s largest vaccination centre which - pre-COVID - hosted live events such as gigs, raves, exhibitions, and conferences.
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On Saturday, December 18, Patrick Topping (pictured) was slated to headline the Trick Scotland x Terminal V event, along with Reinier Zonneveld, Floorplan, Cinthie, Mella Dee, and more.
“Nicola Sturgeon announced that due to the new Omicron variant, the Scottish Government are cancelling this weekend’s Trick Scotland event to extend and facilitate the emergency vaccination/booster drive in our venue,” promoters announced.
Sturgeon was asked by Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton about Saturday’s event, which would have taken a week to set up and dismantle, starting from today.
The First Minister responded that there would be full compensation for the cancellation, and the event would be postponed to a later date for the time being. She also added that she wanted to see an increase in the use of vaccination facilities.
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MSP Mr Cole-Hamilton said, unaware of the vaccination centre’s brief closure, “the RHS wanted to do the right thing but to cancel would cost them more than £60,000 and there was no guarantee of financial support from the government.”
Sturgeon is calling for everyone over the age of 18 to book their booster vaccinations by the end of the month in the wake of the new "superspreading" Omicron variant.
Just yesterday, she announced that a new three household limit would be implemented as well as social distancing restrictions in shops and pubs.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter
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