A Scottish mountain festival in Braemar is still going ahead this weekend, despite events being cancelled all over the country due to the wintry weather.
The Braemar Mountain Festival teaches sports enthusiasts winter skills, with workshops on avalance awareness, navitation and fell running.
Esteemed mountainers, including Dave MacLeod, Mollie Hughes, Guy Robertson and Greg Boswell, will also give talks in the evening followed by a ceilidh.
The festival will go ahead with only minor adjustments to the programme.
A spokeswoman for the event said: “We have decided to cancel all the Friday morning events, with the programme commencing now at 1pm.
“We are really looking forward to welcoming festival goers to a snowy Breamar for an exciting weekend of events.”
Organisers of the Ruby Ball, a charity night in aid of Maggie’s and Hamish Dear’s Warm Hugs, also confirmed the event would go ahead at Pittodrie in Aberdeen tomorrow night as planned.
However, the Beast from the East forced the cancellation of two prominent events in the city.
Last night the annual Energy Institute dinner due to be held at the Marcliffe hotel was called off because of the Siberian cold front and tonight’s Aberdeen Young Professional (AYP) ball has been postponed until next month.
The popular AYP ball will now be held on Friday, April 20 at the same venue, the Hilton Treetops in Aberdeen.
Hosted in partnership between DCT Media and Peterson, a spokeswoman for the event said last night that the health and safety for everyone involved had prompted the decision to reschedule, adding: “Thankfully, the staff Hilton Treetops have been absolutely superb.
“They have moved all the accommodation bookings and just kept everything the same – just a different date – we can’t thank them enough.
“It was a difficult decision, but we had to make the call as some people had a long way to travel.”
Last year, AYP introduced their successful mentor scheme and awards for this were due to take place during the ball, hosted by E4’s Made in Chelsea star Francis Boulle.
A spokesman for the Energy Institute last night couldn’t confirm the date for their rescheduled event, but said: “In view of advice from authorities including Police Scotland and the Met Office, we feel this is the safest option for delegates and speakers, and we know that everyone concerned will understand our position.”
The wintry weather also forced the organisers of a schools poetry competition to cancel.
The Robert Burns World Federation’s North East Annual Schools Competition was due to take place at Portlethen Academy on Saturday.
However a number of schools from across Moray and Aberdeenshire have had to pull out due to the winter storms battering the area, meaning attendance at the contest would be low.