NICOLA Sturgeon has said she cannot guarantee music festivals and other large public events will be able to take place this summer.
The First Minister made the comments following the news Glastonbury has been cancelled for the second year running.
She said we could be living with physical distancing, face coverings and travel restrictions for some time to come.
Some music festivals are still pushing ahead with plans for events later this year.
But at her regular coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon was asked if it is "pointless holding out hope" that such events will be able to go ahead, and whether organisers should cancel them.
She said these issues are "difficult balances" for organisations.
She added: "None of us right now can look ahead and say with certainty what the position will be in the summer."
She said ministers "certainly hope" the vaccine programme will be well underway by then.
She added: "We know that summer weather conditions, even in Scotland, make life a bit harder for viruses, so that's another positive.
"But equally, we are still very much in the grip of a global pandemic, and none of these things, in and of themselves, are going to necessarily by the summer of this year create a completely back to normal environment in any walk of life.
"So I think organisations have to be aware of that."
Ms Sturgeon said she could not say with certainty that large-scale events will be able to go ahead by the summer.
She added: "I hope, just as everybody else hopes, that by then we will have restored a lot of normality to life, but we equally have to be realistic and pragmatic.
"I think it's going to be a little while longer, and I'm saying that gently, before big-scale events become possible again.
"Now I hope that's as quickly as possible. But is it going to be by the summer? I could not say that with any certainty."
Ms Sturgeon said we could be living with physical distancing, face coverings and travel restrictions for some time to come.
She said: "That's the context in which, I think, organisations have to consider these decisions."
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