T in the Park bosses are keeping tight-lipped about the future of the festival, amid growing concern that next year’s show could be axed.
DF Concerts, the organisers behind the long-running Perthshire event, are understood to be in talks about staging a new three-day festival in Glasgow.
The move has sparked speculation that T in the Park will now not go ahead at Strathallan Castle next summer.
Organisers will need to secure planning permission if they want to return to the estate in 2018.
Traders in Auchterarder, near the Strathallan site, said the loss of the festival would be a major blow to the area and the local economy.
Carol Wood, chairwoman of the Auchterarder Community Partnership, said: “Being affiliated with T in the Park has been great for Auchterarder, because it does a great job of raising our profile.
“It’s not just about how much money local shops make during the weekend of the festival, it’s more about letting people know that we are here and showing them what we have to offer.”
Ms Wood, who runs the Chocolate Galley, said: “In that respect, it would be a real shame to see T in the Park lost from the area.”
Paul Jackson, manager of Simon Howie butchers on the High Street, said: “We never saw any great change on the weekend of the festival itself, but we were kept busy in the weeks leading up to it.
“People working on setting up the stages would often come into town for their shopping. Some of the crews stayed in the area as well.
“We’d see them again afterwards when they’d spend another four weeks or so dismantling the site.”
John West, who runs the Parsonage guesthouse with his wife Margaret, said: “T in the Park is a very good thing for the area and it would be a shame to see it go.
“We had people staying with us from Australia last year.”
Brian Walker, a supervisor at the Gleneagles Hotel, said: “To be honest, it didn’t have a huge impact on the town, but it will be a great loss to the Perthshire area.
“Apart from everything else, this was meant to help pay for refurbishments at Strathallan Castle which is an important part of our local heritage.”
Other shopkeepers said they had been unaffected by the festival, with some reporting a downturn in trade during the weekend itself.
Liz Smith MSP, who campaigned for increased safety after three drug-related deaths at this year’s festival, said: “Any move away from Perth and Kinross would have significant implications for the local council, the police, festival-goers and the wider public.
“Following 2015 and 2016 we have looked to work with all partners to try and resolve the issues that affected the festival and have felt that new proposals would be forthcoming. Above all I would call for clarity regarding T in the Park’s future at Strathallan.”
Strathallan councillor Ann Gaunt said: “I am sure this would have a major impact on the local economy, although I know some residents would be less than unhappy about it.
“Having said that, there were much fewer complaints than last year and DF Concerts seemed keen to improve the event further and to eliminate problems as much as possible.”
This time last year, DF Concerts had already announced the Stone Roses as their 2016 headline act and released the first batch of tickets.
No one from DF Concerts would comment on recent reports. A source close to the show said that planning for T was on-going.
