It is with huge disappointment and frustration that we have to announce the cancellation of Party at The Palace this year.
In announcing this cancellation, we want to be completely open as to why we arrived at this decision.
Only 3 weeks ago we were encouraged by Event Scotland and the Scottish Government to continue planning the event. However, the lack of a UK Government backed insurance policy has resulted in us having to now take this decision. The insurance policy was essential and although it was recommended by a cross party group, it did not materialise.
In addition, our local authority’s interpretation of current government advice was that we would have to offer 7,500 customers table service for the bar. This interpretation was not shared by ourselves, Event Scotland, Scottish Government or other local authorities.
Sadly, Scotland is lagging behind our counterparts in other areas of the UK and unfortunately, we fear we won’t be the last festival to cancel this year. Another year without a pay day for the thousands of events and hospitality staff in this industry is not sustainable and we genuinely feel for them and apologise that we were not able to get a better outcome for them and for our customers. We genuinely did absolutely everything we could to get the event on.
We would like to thank our local MSP Fiona Hyslop and her team for their support to try to get the guidance and clarification that we needed. Similarly, we know that the team at Event Scotland did everything in their power to help us also.
As with last year, our commitment to ticket holders remains the same. If you wish to carry your ticket over to 2022, you do not require to contact us. Your ticket will automatically roll over. This means you will be able to take advantage of this years reduced prices due to the 5% VAT rate and you will also be supporting the long term future of the event. We thank those who are willing and able to do this.
Should you wish to request a refund on your tickets, please contact the agent you originally purchased your tickets through. If this was direct through our website please complete the refund form with your booking information. Please note, the refund will be for the face value of the ticket. The booking fee is retained by the ticket agent (not PATP) to process the booking and refund.
We ask for your patience on refund requests as we are a small team so it may take time to manage all the administration. All refund requests must be received by 5pm on 31st July 2021. Beyond that, we will automatically carry your booking over to 2022.
Sincere thanks once again for your support through these difficult times.
Peter, John, Ash and the team at PATP
