Scottish Ballet has canceled planned performances of its Christmas show "Cinders!" in Edinburgh between December 26 and New Year's Eve, citing unsustainable rising costs.
The company's nationwide tour of the Cinderella fairytale retelling was scheduled to run at the Festival Theatre until December 31. However, officials stated that extending the run beyond December 24 would be too expensive.
Scottish Ballet reported a 72 percent increase in its annual bill for housing 150 performers and crew in Edinburgh hotels between December 2019 and December 2025, reaching £200,000. The recent implementation of a five-percent visitor levy on overnight accommodation by the City of Edinburgh Council is also a significant factor.
"The economics of touring to Edinburgh are fast becoming unsustainable," said Steven Roth, executive director of Scottish Ballet. "A visitor economy that becomes too expensive for both the artists who animate it and the audiences who come to see them risks undermining the very thing that makes Edinburgh worth visiting."
The company has requested that the local authority consider an exemption to the visitor levy for national performing companies based in Glasgow, where Scottish Ballet is headquartered.
Christopher Hampson, artistic director of Scottish Ballet, added, "We remain committed to Edinburgh, but that commitment needs to be a two-way street."
Edinburgh's council leader, Jane Meagher, defended the visitor levy, stating it is crucial for raising funds to reinvest in the city's attractions. "It will raise tens of millions of pounds a year for us to reinvest in everything that makes Edinburgh so special – benefitting everyone who lives in, works in and visits the city," she said.
This decision follows the TV Festival's announcement last month that it would relocate from Edinburgh to Manchester after 50 years, citing a need to "radically reduce" costs for delegates. The festival is scheduled to hold its final event in Edinburgh from August 25-28.