Texas’ New Years Eve concert was among the casualties as Edinburgh’s outdoor Hogmanay celebrations were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions.

The band, who recently completed a UK arena tour, had been due to headline the Concert in the Gardens at the capital’s Princess Gardens in their native Scotland, supported by Edinburgh-born singer-songwriter Callum Beattie.

But Unique Assembly, which runs the Hogmanay festival on behalf of the city council, opted to call off all outdoor events scheduled for 30-31 December amid high winds and inclement weather.

“Public safety must be our number one priority”

“This decision was not taken lightly, however with the ongoing adverse weather conditions, public safety must be our number one priority,” said council leader Jane Meagher.

All indoor events continued as planned, including a sold out gig by Idlewild at the Assembly Rooms and Candlelit Concert at St Giles’ Cathedral A series of free and ticketed indoor music gigs across the city centre, Leith and Portobello also went ahead on New Year’s Day.

CAA-represented Texas have a raft of UK shows on sale for this summer, including headline dates at Cornwall’s Eden Sessions (12 June), Lincoln Castle (15 June), Llangollen Pavilion (26 June), Bristol Sounds (27 June), Lytham Festival (6 July), Dreamland Margate (18 July), Halifax’s The Piece Hall (25 July), Scarborough Open Air Theatre (26 July), Sandown Park Racecourse (7 August) and Custom House Square in Belfast, Northern Ireland (17 August).

The also have slots lined up at European festivals such as Art Rock Festival and La Nuit Des Étoiles in France, Belgium’s TW Classic, Spain’s Cruïlla, and Isle of Wight, Belladrum and Colchester Castle Summer Series in the UK.

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The fate of New Zealand’s upcoming festival season is to be determined by a new traffic-light system, which came into effect last night.

Under the new system, each region in the country has been assigned a colour (green, orange or red) based on vaccination rates and the spread of Covid-19 in the community, as well as a set of corresponding restrictions.

In regions assigned ‘red’, venues using vaccine certificates are limited to 100 people with 1-metre social distancing.

In ‘orange’ regions, these venues face no limits on gatherings at events, retail, hospitality.

Venues that don’t use vaccine certificates are not permitted indoor or outdoor events under red or orange.

“Getting vaccinated is how we can return to the shows and festivals we love”

Auckland is among a number of regions in the North Island that have been assigned ‘red’. Wellington, Waikato and all of the South Island are among the regions moving to orange. No region starts at green.

The traffic-light system is bad news for Live Nation-owned festival Rhythm and Vines, which was scheduled to take place on New Year’s Eve in Gisborne – currently ‘red’ on the system.

Organisers yesterday announced that, for the first time in the festival’s 19-year history, the event will be rescheduled to 15 April until 17 April 2022.

In a statement, the festival organisers said: “Rhythm and Vines’ mission has [been] and always will be a safe and secure festival for all involved, and [we] believe this decision will allow us to keep delivering the best festival experience that over 400,000 young Kiwis have enjoyed since 2003.

Northern Bass refuses to pull the plug yet, even though the event site in Mangawhai falls under a ‘red’ light

“Rhythm and Vines would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has continued to support this year’s festival including all staff, contractors, artists and suppliers who will have been affected by this decision.

“Getting vaccinated is how we can return to the shows and festivals we love and we encourage everyone to #vaxforlive.”

Elsewhere, New Year’s Eve drum and bass festival Northern Bass refuses to pull the plug yet, even though the event site in Mangawhai has been assigned ‘red’.

The festival organisers say they are crossing their fingers for an orange light status after the next update from the government on 13 December.

“We won’t cancel [yet] – there’s no reason to cancel,” event organiser Gareth Popham told Stuff. “We’ve sold 11,500 tickets and currently have 10,000 kids on a waiting list wanting tickets.”

The sold-out event is set to be headlined by British DJ Andy C and electronic music duo Chase & Status.

Meanwhile, Auckland-born Lorde has postponed her Solar Power Tour until 2023, citing uncertainty around Covid and international touring.

Auckland’s Outerfields festival, originally scheduled for March 6th 2021, has been beset by Covid delays twice and is now tabled for 3 December 2022.

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