Spirit of Speyside cancelled due to covid-19

Scotland’s Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival has been called off in light of social restriction guidelines in response to the global coronavirus pandemic.

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival has been cancelled

Set to celebrate its 21st year, the annual whisky festival, planned to take place on 29 April to 4 May, was due to welcome international and domestic visitors to Speyside.

Organisers of the festival have instead been forced to cancel this year’s event to “reflect the quickly-evolving situation as a result of the covid-19 virus and recommendations from the Scottish government to restrict public gatherings as a preventative measure”.

James Campbell, chairman of Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, said: “In response to the escalating situation with covid-19, the board of directors have decided that this year’s Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is cancelled as a preventative measure.

“Our festival welcomes visitors from across the globe to the region each year and it is our priority to keep both our visitors and the local community safe.

“We very much regret the inconvenience that this will cause our visitors, event providers, members, partners and local communities, and trust that everyone will fully understand why we have had to make this decision.”

Ticket holders will be contacted as soon as possible by the festival team and refunds will be at the discretion of individual event providers.

As a result of government advice to limit the spread of the disease, festivals including Whisky Live London, Whiskyfest Chicago and Canada’s Wonderful World of Whisky Show have been cancelled or postponed.

The Wine & Spirits Show, set to take place in London next month, has also been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The rapid spread of the disease has also brought about the closure of distillery visitor centres, and pubs and bars in Europe and the US.