‘We will get through this’: Major impact to be felt by organisers as Royal Highland Show cancelled

One of Scotland’s biggest events has been called off due to the coronavirus.

The Royal Highland Show will no longer go ahead due to Scottish restrictions on gatherings as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

The agricultural event – which attracts tens of thousands of visitors to Ingliston, near Edinburgh, every year – was due to take place from June 18 – 21.

It would have been the 180th Royal Highland Show.

On Tuesday, the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) confirmed that the event will no longer take place despite plans being at an “advanced stage”.

Organisers said cancellation was the “only course of action open” to them as they called for the support of the agricultural industry moving forward.

RHASS chairman Bill Gray said: “It is with deep regret and huge personal disappointment that I confirm the cancellation of the 2020 Royal Highland Show.

“The Show is Scotland’s largest outdoor event attracting up to 200,000 people each year and is the premier showcase for the food, farming and rural industry.

“Plans for the 180th show are at an advanced stage but given recent and ongoing developments, the directors and I have taken the only course of action open to us.

“Thankfully, the sector is nothing but resilient and while this will no doubt test us, I am confident that some good will come from what is a bleak and worrying time for us all.

“To that end, we are calling on the industry and wider partners to work with us to support each other to ensure we weather the storm.”

RHASS chief executive Alan Laidlaw added: “It would be naive to underestimate the massive impact the cancellation will have on the charity, but with the industry’s support, I have little doubt that we can, and we will, get through this.

“Personally, I am saddened that despite our best intentions, we are not able to stage this year’s event as we had some exciting developments planned.

“But in these unprecedented times we must focus on the wider issue, support the vulnerable in our communities and ensure that Scottish agriculture plays its essential part in achieving this.”

The Scottish Government say 195 people across Scotland have now contracted covid-19. This is a rise from 171 on Monday.

There are now 20 confirmed cases in Tayside. The number of cases in Fife remains at seven.

Two Scottish people have now died from the virus.