Organisers have hit out at government after saying they were forced to axe two music festivals due to coronavirus restrictions.

The Party at the Palace and Party at The Park festivals featuring big names were due to tak place in August and attract a total of 36,000 music fans, who paid up to £93.75 a pop for weekend tickets.

But now the organisers have told disappointed festival goers that they were left with “absolutely no alternative” but to cancel after being “let down” by government.

The Manic Street Preachers were due to top the bill at Party at the Palace in Linlithgow, West Lothian, meanwhile The Charlatans and The Kaiser Chiefs were due to headline Perth’s Party at the Park.

The festivals had been held over from last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the rescheduled 2021 dates have now been cancelled.

The Herald:

It is understood that Party in the Park will revert to June dates next year. It is not yet clear what the arrangements will be for Party at the Palace.

The organisers said: “It is with huge disappointment and frustration that we have to announce the cancellation of both Party at The Palace in Linlithgow and Party at The Park in Perth.

“Unfortunately, we were left with absolutely no alternative and we feel particularly let down by a lack of communication and guidance from Scottish Government.

“There seemed to be no understanding that our events take months to plan. Relying on three weekly updates, conflicting advice and unclear guidance made it impossible to give assurances to our customers, artists, staff and traders.

“We were also disappointed that Scottish Government could not deliver an insurance policy for events."

The organisers told fans that only three weeks ago they were encouraged by the Event Scotland and the Scottish Government to continue planning the event.

But they said the lack of a UK Government backed insurance policy resulted in them having to now take this decision.

They said that the insurance policy was essential and although it was recommended by a cross party group, it did not materialise.

In relation to the Party at the Palace, they said that the local authority’s interpretation of current government advice was that they would have to offer 7,500 customers table service for the bar.

"This interpretation was not shared by ourselves, Event Scotland, Scottish Government or other local authorities," they said.

The Herald:

The organisers said: "Sadly, Scotland is lagging behind our counterparts in other areas of the UK and unfortunately, we fear we won’t be the last festival to cancel this year.

"Another year without a pay day for the thousands of events and hospitality staff in this industry is not sustainable and we genuinely feel for them and apologise that we were not able to get a better outcome for them and for our customers. We genuinely did absolutely everything we could to get the event on."

Those that want a refund are being asked to contact the ticketing agent.

But those wishing a refund will only get the face value of the ticket. The organisers say the booking fee will be retained by the ticket agent to "process the booking and refund".

The move has devastated fans who told the organisers of their disappointment.

Fiona McIver said: "Devastated. "as so looking forward to this after months of no concerts and events."

Rosemary Cunningham added: "Shocking after all the crowds that have been at all the other events for example the Tennis etc.."

Laura Gilfillan added: "The events industry is in tatters yet because of the money UEFA provided to our governments it was acceptable for thousands of people to be in football stadiums. I genuinely don’t see the difference if you watched Saturday's final where there was zero social distancing and such like and even the matches played in Scotland fan wise. I’d say substantially more numbers than the lower capacity of our much longed for gigs (outwith and in the football stadium)."

TJ Thomson added: "Whey are we blaming the government here!? This is about insurance not willing to pay out on cancellations much the same as many holidays! If you want to point the finger at anyone look to greedy insurance corporates!!

Ronny Davies added: Absolutely Gutted. It is a disgrace that this country can go from Fan Zones to actively making it impossible for a well run family orientated award winning boutique festival to go ahead at even break."

It comes after TRNSMT in Glassgow headlined by The Chemical Brothers, Primal Scream, Liam Gallagher and Courteeners and Snow Patrol moved to a later date in September.