ORGANISERS of sell-out festive drive-in movies and pantos in large parts of Scotland are at war with ministers over being forced to cancel events - just five months after they said the risks were "sufficiently low" to be allowed.

Charities were among those who have been forced to shut down drive-through festive events leaving tens of thousands of families who bought tickets disappointed after it was made clear last week that they would not be allowed in Level 3 areas. No such restrictions exist in England.

It comes five months after culture secretary Fiona Hislop hailed the use of drive-ins as a creative way forward for the entertainment industry.

In July, the Scottish Government announced a "green light for live drive-in events" saying public health advice considers the transmission risk while the audience remains in their parked cars, as "sufficiently low to allow them to take place" with the appropriate guidance and 'mitigations'.

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said at the time: “Drive-in live events signal that innovative approaches can provide a first step towards recovery and can be the needed lifeline for our events sector during this time.

“I would encourage our local communities and events sector to work together to be creative and consider the possibilities of drive-in live events – from music concerts and local bingo nights, to family theatre and a reimagining of some of our most loved annual live events.”

But all appeared to change after the five level coronavirus restrictions system based on local authority areas announced at the end of October.

But it was not clear to organisers that drive-throughs were not going to be permitted until last Tuesday (December 15).

And as drive-through events organisers immediately moved to cancel festive drive-through shows and issue refunds on tickets, the Scottish Government denied that there was any "tightening of restrictions" and said there was "a risk of transmission of the virus through visiting shared areas such as refreshment stalls and toilets". This led to questions being raised about why tickets were ever sold for the festive events.

But organisers of drive-throughs have hit back at the Scottish Government's "mystifying" decision-making and point out that such refreshment stalls and toilets also exist in supermarkets which are allowed to open.

Oli Norman, chief executive of itison & event creator said: “All throughout summer and up until immediately prior to the tier system being introduced, the Scottish Government’s policy in relation to drive-ins has been very clear.

"From the outset they deemed them very safe and have been actively encouraging the events sector to invest and use drive-ins as a safe form of entertainment; as has pretty much every government around the world.

“For some inexplicable reason when introducing the tier system, the Scottish Government decided drive-ins were to be classed as a tier 2 activity, delivering another hammer blow to the creative sector. The government delivered this U-turn in the full knowledge that operators such as ourselves have got to plan these drive-in activities long in advance, pre-dating the introduction of the tier system.

“Having consulted at length with all the senior government policy makers, their ongoing view and recommendations to ministers was for drive-in to be a tier 3 activity.

The Herald:

How the Catherine McEwan Foundation announced their cancellations.

“The decision to place in tier two is completely illogical and indefensible. Having had detailed discussions with the senior clinicians there is no logic or evidence whatsoever that they hold any risk of covid transmission and are significantly safer than going inside retail or hospitality, hence why all other home nations have allowed them in far stricter respective tiers.”

On Tuesday a number of drive-in movies were cancelled, including those by itison and the Catherine McEwan Foundation which raises funds for people affected by Crohn's and Colitis.

According to itison 420 creative sector jobs will be lost and 18,000 families will face "an even bleaker winter and Christmas period" because of the restrictions "despite England, Wales and Northern Ireland allowing them in "far harsher equivalent tiers".

Christmas drive-in pantos also bit the dust as it was announced that in the light of the restrictions the Scottish company behind one of the UK’s largest drive-in tours, The Parking Lot Social, has been forced to cancel all dates in Scotland for the rest of the year.

That includes the Glasgow area's first Parking Lot Panto due to take place at the Skyport Airport Parking near Glasgow Airport and also featuring what organisers described as a 'gloom-busting programme of films, party shows and family events'.

The Catherine McEwan Foundation and many other drive-in operators have written to the Scottish Government to challenge the "changes" but with no success.

Grahame Ferguson co-chief executive of XL Event Lab which produced The Parking Lot Social events said the move to restrict drive-through events "beggars believe" and said at the time the tickets were placed on sale in late September drive-ins were not restricted.

"Indeed, they were regularly being referenced by Fiona Hyslop in the press as an example of a creative solution to entertainment provision during the pandemic," he said.

"By the time our Halloween drive-in was taking place in Glasgow, we had already sold out over 90% of tickets available for our Christmas week events.

“It wasn't until November 1 that the Scottish Government updated their own events sector guidelines and made any mention of drive-ins. Even then, these did not explicitly state that drive-ins were not permitted in Level 3 and we had to seek direct clarification from the government and Events Scotland to confirm that was indeed the case.

"From that point onwards, we, along with several other drive-in promoters, were in direct dialogue with all relevant agencies , including the Cabinet Secretary, in a bid to have drive-ins re-classified, something we were all confident would be achieved. We were successful in getting the Cabinet Secretary to agree to a review of the classification. However, the result of that review was not communicated to us until the December 7, just over a week before we were due to open our doors. The result was that the decision was upheld.

“What followed was a week of further back and forth with the relevant agencies in a bid to get them to reconsider. On Tuesday, December 15, having had no positive responses to our last ditch attempts to get the event re-classified, and after the latest round of Tier revisions were announced that kept both Glasgow and Edinburgh in Level 3, we had no choice but to cancel the event and issue refunds to over 10,000 ticket purchasers.”

The Scottish Government produced advice for drive-through event organisers saying they must ensure that any live performers on stage adhere to relevant guidance, on singing and use of musical instruments, and adhere to physical distancing and hygiene measures.

"Other mitigating measures will include limiting attendance to one extended household per car, calculating the capacity to allow two-metre distancing to be maintained for both staff and customers, customers remaining in their vehicle at all times (other than to safely access toilets and food/merchandise areas). "Customer management procedures should be in place ensure this takes place," it said.

Organisers were also advised to keep a record of staff and customer contact details to help with contact tracing in the event someone linked to the event contracts Covid-19.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We know how difficult this is for the events sector and for those who bought tickets – but, as organisers are aware, these events have never been permitted in level 3 areas and this is therefore not a tightening of restrictions.

“A large number of people are likely to want to visit shared areas such as refreshment stalls and toilet facilities at these events, posing a risk of transmission of the virus. The events are also likely to draw households from outside the local authority area, breaching travel restrictions and potentially leading to car sharing, which is a known trigger for outbreaks.

“We have announced an additional £13 million of Scottish Government funding to support the events sector, on top of £10 million that we announced during the summer. This recognises how hard hit this sector has been by the pandemic and our commitment to helping it recover. We will continue to work with stakeholders on a route back for events in the future.”