One of the major venues of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Famous Spiegeltent, will not be staged at St Andrew Square in the capital this year.
Essential Edinburgh, which manages the garden on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council and the owners of the square, do not want the venue back this year.
David Bates, who runs Spiegeltent International, said: "Final word that The Famous Spiegeltent is no longer welcome in St Andrew Square was only received this month and despite intensive lobbying to the Edinburgh City Council and Essential Edinburgh, no viable alternative site has yet been confirmed.
"Consequently, major programming has already been forced to register with alternative venues, major international artists are no longer available, Fringe deadlines have passed, and availability of contractors, staff, equipment and infrastructure is severely compromised – after 33 years, and in the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festivals, it looks like time has finally run out for Edinburgh’s Grand Old Dame."
He added: "Throughout this fiasco of The Famous Spiegeltent being turfed out of St Andrew Square by corporate interests, there has been no explanation from the Edinburgh City Council, Essential Edinburgh or the big business owners themselves as to why St Andrew Square cannot be used for summer festival activity in 2017."
A spokeswoman for Essential Edinburgh said festival activity could still take place in the square.
A meeting is being arranged with Festivals Edinburgh to discuss the use of the gardens.
The news comes as a nearby venue, the Assembly Rooms, revealed it will once again stage live acts this year after using the venue last year as a home for digital shows.
Roddy Smith, chief executive of Essential Edinburgh, said: "We have been in discussion with City of Edinburgh Council and the owners of the Garden for some time about its on-going use.
"These discussions have been aimed at finding a balanced and sustainable way of managing the use of the Garden for the future."
He added: "There was also unanimous agreement that – at appropriate times of the year – the Garden will be animated with high quality activity that will not adversely impact on the look and feel of the space, and that activity will be designed to minimise disruption to the Garden. We are looking at specific plans and will distribute these in the near future."
"The city’s festivals play a huge part in the city’s reputation as a place to visit, and the footfall they generate is important to local businesses. "Therefore we should also recognise the wider work that is being done to identify public spaces in the city centre and how they can be best used in an integrated, sustainable way to help further enhance the special ambience of Edinburgh city centre and ensure the city centre’s continued huge attraction and therefore help its continued prosperity."
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