Midnight Sun Weekender festival in Stornoway cancelled due to poor ticket sales

A Western Isles festival featuring Primal Scream and The Pretenders has been cancelled.

The inaugural Midnight Sun festival was due to take place at Lews Castle in Stornoway next week, but organisers says they’ve taken the “difficult decision” to cancel.

The festival was due to be held over three days from May 25, with The Pretenders, Primal Scream and John Fogerty all set to take the stage.

It was being billed as the “first major rock and pop event to grace the island”.

In a statement on the festival’s website, organisers wrote: “Rising costs and limited availability on festival infrastructure, as well as the cost of living crisis having an impact on ticket sales means that we are not in the position to deliver the event that we had hoped to bring to our beautiful island.”

Festival director Ian MacArthur says the decision will have an impact on local businesses including hotels and as well as restaurants.

He said: “As organisers, we have tried everything we can to overcome the challenges we have faced to stage this event, however it has become impossible for us to move forward.”

Information about refunds will be issued to customers within the coming days.

In February, it was reported almost £1m was being spent on the event, which some called the “Glastonbury of the North”.

The event was to be held at Lews Castle, in the same location as the Outer Hebrides popular HebCelt festival.

The event would have paid tribute to island traditions of keeping the Sabbath, with the weekender finishing on Saturday night, instead of Sunday.

In April, organiser Charlie Clark spoke to The Press and Journal about his plans for the festival including bringing “huge, festival-headlining, renowned artists to the island for local people to enjoy”.