The World Cullen Skink Championships have been cancelled following the death of one of its organisers.
The fifth annual instalment of the cookery contest had been scheduled to take place on Sunday, in the coastal Moray village from where the dish takes its name.
But the committee behind the competition confirmed its postponement last night.
The Cullen Voluntary Tourist Initiative has vowed to reschedule the event for next year.
The group’s vice-chairman, Simon Tucker, said the organising committee had been through a turbulent year with several key members leaving.
And its woes were compounded last month when Cullen community stalwart and contest co-ordinator, Brian Lawrence, was killed in a car crash.
The 77-year-old died in a head-on collision on the outskirts of Buckie on Sunday, October 16.
Mr Tucker said: “It has really just been one of those years for us, the committee changed a lot and those of us who stayed on have all been up to our eyes dealing with our own personal things.
“When we lost Brian that was very hard to take, and I had another friend die around that time.
“But the championships are still planned to take place next year, it won’t disappear.”
Staff at the Cullen Bay Hotel, which traditionally hosts the contest and won last year, said they held no ill-feeling about the event’s late cancellation.
Cook Ian Watson’s take on the creamy smoked haddock, potato and onion soup defeated entries from 10 other chefs to take top honours.