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Search the Public Notice PortalA Santa meet-and-greet will not return to Edinburgh’s St Andrew Square this Christmas after a decision by owners to prioritise using the gardens during the Fringe.
The Santa’s Stories experience has run in St Andrew Square in recent years but is set to move to Princes Street Gardens West beside the city’s popular Christmas markets and fairground rides, which organisers will start setting up next week.
However, the attraction’s relocation is yet to be approved by the council, with the request for planning permission only submitted last month.
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And a decision could come as late as November 21 — the same day Santa’s Stories is due to open to the public.
Edinburgh’s Christmas organisers Unique Assembly said they “promptly submitted the application” after “it became clear that these elements require additional planning permissions”.
St Andrew Square Garden is owned by surrounding property owners and managed by Essential Edinburgh, the city centre’s business improvement district.
The square previously hosted the famous Spiegeltent during the Edinburgh Festival, until the owners decided in 2016 to discontinue it in favour of activities that "would not adversely affect the look and feel of the space".
However, this year the 105-year-old traveling tent returned to the square as a Fringe venue, hosting the cabaret and circus act La Clique.
In 2019, the square’s owners ended the 22-year tradition of hosting a Christmas ice rink, with Roddy Smith, chief executive of Essential Edinburgh, saying then the scale and impact had become “just too great".
He added that the ice rink was “wrecking” the gardens, which would “be used a lot less for events in the future.” Former Edinburgh’s Christmas organisers, Underbelly, described the decision as “disappointing and bewildering".
This week, Mr Smith told The Herald the square will be used only for summer festival events from now on.
“This summer the Spiegeltent was in St Andrew Square, which was the first time we've done anything in the summer for a long time,” he said.
“We don't want to do something in the summer and the winter. It's just too much. St Andrew Square can't sustain two big events a year. So strategically, we went for the summer as opposed to the winter. If we put something on for Christmas, then you'd be putting another tent on in two weeks' time.”
Mr Smith said the square will still be lit up with Christmas lights and decorations.
“We’ll have some nice Christmas lights and a Christmas tree and so on and in fact. Social Bite are going to go in there with their Festival of Kindness that they do every year.
“But there'll be nothing commercial in St Andrew Square at Christmas.
“The decision is just about getting the balance right between animating it and just letting it be.
“And, you know, obviously with the Spiegeltent in the summer, the grass just needs to recover and relax and there's so much going on in the city centre that we don’t necessarily need to animate St. Andrew's Square at Christmas.”
The move has partly been influenced by a desire to spread the Fringe more widely across the city centre.
“One reason is that in the summer, we'd like more activity in the New Town,” he added. “Obviously, the Fringe is primarily in the Old Town so we wanted to have more activity, which is why we put the Spiegeltent in and secondly - and probably the biggest reason - is it's much easier for the grass to recover in September and October than it is in January and February.
“I think going forward, everything being equal, we will animate the square in the summer and just light it up at Christmas.”
Updated proposals for the traditional festive markets in Princes Street Gardens include an extra 20 trading stalls and relocating the Santa Stories tent.
Edinburgh Council said the plans will be considered by councillors on the Development Management Sub-Committee, although a date for the meeting has yet to be set.
The council added that any new elements requiring planning permission will be removed if approval is not granted.
A Unique Assembly spokesperson said: "Edinburgh’s Christmas in Princes Street Gardens has existing three-year planning permission. In a move to enhance visitor experience by bringing all the family elements into the wonderful atmosphere in West Princes Street Gardens and giving audiences more to enjoy in East Princes Street Gardens, we have proposed new elements to the experience.
"After it became clear that these elements require additional planning permissions, the team promptly submitted the application.
“The careful transformation of Princes Street Gardens begins next week on those areas for which planning permission is in place, with deliveries starting today.
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"We will not build any of the potential new elements until we have planning permission granted.
“We believe that these proposed new elements, prompted by visitor feedback - and within the existing footprint of the event - will enhance the visitor experience.
"We hope that our suggested additions meet with council approval at a meeting in the coming weeks and that we are able to open them in line with Edinburgh’s Christmas on Saturday, November 15.”
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