The Floris Effect
EdFringe Venues cancel shows due to unseasonable storm
The Tattoo and Edinburgh Fringe venues cancelled performances and closed venues on Monday 4 August 2025 in anticipation of the high winds brought by Storm Floris.
This live blog has now (Tue 5) been updated to a news story.
As of 12.30am on 4 Aug, the performance of the Tattoo, all performances in The Famous Spiegeltent in St Andrew Square, the EIF productions scheduled for Princess Street Gardens and productions at Pleasance Courtyard had been cancelled.
The Pleasance announced at 12.30pm that it was closing the Pleasance Courtyard and the Pleasance Plaza until 6pm. After an assessment it was decided to re-open the Courtyard at 7pm, with the first shows resuming at 7.30pm.
Circus Hub on the Meadows was closed by Underbelly at 1.45pm. Instead of closing the venue outright, the company instigated a rolling closure, allowing it to possibly re-open should circumstances allow.
However at 6.30, it bowed to the inevitable and announced: “Due to today’s weather, we are not in a position to re-open Circus Hub, meaning Circa: Wolf, Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett and Mythos: Ragnarok will be cancelled this evening.”
Amber weather warning
According to a Met Office Amber weather warning for the whole of Scotland published on Monday morning: “Wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph are expected for many parts and are likely to reach 80 to 90 mph on some exposed coasts, hills and bridges.”
The warning was in place from 10am to 11pm on Monday 4 August. The Edinburgh forecast predicted winds of around 33mph in town in the afternoon, with gusts of up to 65mph. By 10pm this was expected to drop to 22mph with gusting up to 44mph.
Also closed was the Lady Boys of Bangkok. The producers decided not to risk losing their stunning pink Sabai Pavilion tent to the winds and dismantled it for safety. They were due start the rebuild once the storm has passed and expected to re-open for business as normal on Thursday 7 August.
A performance of the Tattoo has been cancelled due to adverse weather for the first time in its 75 year history. Pic: Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
██ Lothian Buses running. LRT say: “At the time of writing [11am], we don’t anticipate any impact on services today, however we would encourage customers to check our service updates before travelling. Service Updates can be found on our website lothianbuses.com/service-updates/.” Lothian Buses continued to run as normal over the day, with occasional changes due to individual road closures.
██ Trains cancelled. The first casualty on Sunday 3 August was transport. Train operators said that nearly all trains in and out of Edinburgh would cancelled from 12 noon on Monday. This included all East Coast services going north of Newcastle and all services in to and out of Waverley.
██ The Tattoo was cancelled due to the weather for the first time ever. Organisers issued a statement on Sunday (Full details here) cancelling the 9.30pm performance of The Heroes Who Made Us Show on Monday 4. They performance on Tuesday 5 is currently expected to go ahead.
All tickets and add-ons will be reimbursed, although it might take some time if that has to be done manually. Ticket holders who wish to rebook their tickets for a future date, can find up-to-date availability here.
██ The Famous Spiegeltent cancelled all performances on Monday 4 August. The company issued a statement via Facebook on Sunday evening:
██ The Pleasance Courtyard (re-opens from 7pm) & Pleasance Plaza (remains closed)
A spokesperson for the Pleasance told Æ: “Due to the adverse weather conditions, in line with our safety guidelines, we have now closed the Pleasance Courtyard and the Pleasance Plaza, for the safety of our audiences, companies and staff.”
At 4.20pm, the Pleasance announced the Pleasance Courtyard would reopen from 7pm that evening with shows resuming from 7.30pm. The Dome and EICC are running as usual.
██ Ross Bandstand (Princes Street Gardens): The EIF’s Ceilidh Sessions on Monday afternoon have been cancelled and Princes Street Gardens is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Details here.
The EIF says: ” following advice from the City of Edinburgh Council, we need to cancel the Ceilidh Sessions in Princes Street Gardens. All ticket holders will be automatically issued with a full refund from our box office in the next 48 hours.”
██ The Mound Place: There will be no Fringe Fringe Street Events at The Mound, including the Innis & Gunn bar.
The Fringe society has issued a statement here, also saying that the Street Events programme on the High Street (Royal Mile) is currently scheduled to take place.
██ Underbelly Circus Hub on the Meadows.
Statement from Underbelly at 2.30pm: “After consultation with Edinburgh City Council, we have decided to temporarily close Circus Hub due to the high wind gust speed. Therefore, we are unfortunately cancelling today’s performances of Flip Fabrique Six° and The Flying Bubble Show.”
Update at 6.30pm: “Due to today’s weather, we are not in a position to re-open Circus Hub, meaning Circa: Wolf, Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett and Mythos: Ragnarok will be cancelled this evening. At this stage, no other performances are affected. We will update if that changes.
██ Ladyboys closed to Thursday: The Lady Boys of Bangkok have had to take down their Sabai Pavilion tent due to the high winds. They will re-open on Thursday 7 August.
██ Shedinburgh closed all day: The new Edinburgh College of Art venue is closed all day and has cancelled all planned events. This includes the SHEDx panel and the performance of The Hillswick Wedding, both of which the organisers hope to reschedule at a later date.
Business as usual
The following venues with outdoor elements have reported that they will be open – or have not yet made any statement.
██ Underbelly: The Purple Coo in George Square and Bristo Square.
Although Underbelly told Æ: “It’s business as usual today. We’ll let you know if anything changes”, George Square Gardens was closed between 6pm and 8pm because of the wind.
██ Assembly: George Square Gardens and George Street on-street venues.
A spokesperson for Assembly told Æ at 1pm: “Assembly Festival are working closely with our local partners to monitor the current weather conditions. Currently we are open as usual with a full programme of events going ahead throughout the day.”
██ Summerhall: Courtyard.
No information as of 11.30am, Mon 4 Aug 2025.
ENDS
