The Angus summer season calendar has suffered a major blow with the cancellation of this year’s Glamis Castle Prom.
The event attracts thousands of visitors for an evening of open-air music in the spectacular setting of the castle lawn, but organisational difficulties seem to have scuppered the August date.
Confusion surrounds the exact reasons for the decision not to stage the August 14 prom.
Glamis Castle had been due to release a statement but had not done so by last night. Event organisers St Andrew Festival Ltd were also unavailable for comment.
While the longer-term future of the prom is unclear, the decision to drop the 2010 event will bitterly disappoint those for whom the Glamis occasion was a summer highlight.
It also follows a 2009 Grand Scottish Prom, which was described as one of the best in the history of the event, established almost 20 years ago by violinist and impresario John Reid.
Mr Reid developed a winning formula which attracted up to 8000 music lovers at the Prom’s peak.
The National Symphony Orchestra of Scotland were “resident” performers, with many well-established stars also taking to the Glamis stage over the years, including Scots violinist Nicola Benedetti, whom Mr Reid introduced to an Angus audience the year before she was crowned BBC Young Musician of the Year.
In 2008, she made a poignant return to the castle to perform in a Prom tribute to Mr Reid following his death a few months earlier.
His son, David, then took over the Prom and the 2009 event was a major triumph, with 4500 enjoying the programme and its traditional fireworks finale.