THE Fringe Festival has been dealt a major blow with the news that the Famous Spiegeltent will not be coming to the Capital this year.
Organisers of the Spiegel Garden in George Square, which has become a key feature of the Fringe, informed performers and agents this week of their decision to pull out.
Explaining the decision, Leith-based "Spiegelmaestro" David Bates, who has bee
n bringing the mirrored tent to Edinburgh for more than a decade, said he was taking the tent off the road for six months to carry out "essential maintenance".
He also said he would not be taking the venue to the Melbourne Festival this year.
The news comes just a month ahead of the final deadline for the Fringe programme, and is expected to leave many acts who were looking to perform at the Spiegeltent scrambling to find an alternate venue.
Mr Bates told performers: "The Famous Spiegeltent is being taken off the road for at least six months as there is significant repair and maintenance work to be done.
"Unfortunately, for this and other reasons, my Edinburgh Spiegeltent project is not viable in 2009.
"Spiegeltent International will also not be returning to Melbourne this year.
"I know this news might come as a disappointment to many, but I wish everyone well and look forward to working with you in the future."
Music promoter Loudon Temple said he had hoped to see American musicians the Hot Seats return to the venue this year after a five-star show in 2008.
"This will leave a huge black hole right at the very heart of the Fringe.
"Everyone who loves the special circus-comes-to-town atmosphere created when George Square is magically transformed into the Spiegel Garden will be very disappointed," he said.
John Barrow, who is organising the programme for the Acoustic Music Centre at St Bride's, in Orwell Terrace, was able to find room for the Hot Seats, and said he had been surprised by the announcement about the Spiegel Garden.
"It will be a shock to the performers who might have expected to play there, and we have already been contacted by two groups looking for alternative music venues," he said.
"It has been a big part of the festival for a number of years, and was probably one of the most popular venues last year
but I don't think it will affect the Fringe that much. It is a huge, amorphous event that will be able to cope – people who can't go to the Spiegel Garden will simply find somewhere else to go."
A spokesman for the Fringe confirmed that the Speigeltent would not be appearing, but could not give any indication of what, if anything, would take its place.
"We have been notified of the Spiegeltent's decision not to return to this year's festival," he said.
"The venue's site in George Square Gardens has been a busy Fringe hub in recent years and we're confident that any new arrival in the Gardens will prove as popular."
