Botanics calls for support from Edinburgh residents
The organisers of Christmas at the Botanics have announced a rescheduled opening date of Edinburgh’s festive illuminated trail. Due to begin on 26 November, the trail will now start on 2 December 2020 and continue for 28 nights on selected evenings until 3 January 2021.
The decision to delay the opening of Christmas at the Botanics has been made to enable additional refinements to the trail’s health and safety guidance in line with Scotland’s new Covid-19 local protection levels which are being regularly reviewed and updated by the Scottish Government.
Jonathan Marks, Chief Development Director at Raymond Gubbay, a division of Sony Music, which promotes the trail, commented: “The health and safety of visitors and our trail staff remain a top priority and we will continue to monitor and respond to Scottish Government guidelines as they are reviewed and amended.
“In this ever-changing situation, delays have been inevitable. This has impacted on the time required to build the trail. It takes hours of precision and expertise to install, and for the artists and production team to create an amazing light experience. The teams are working tremendously hard to facilitate the opening of the trail without further delay, created with safety in mind.”
This year, now more than ever before, the trail’s success is dependent on support from the residents of the City of Edinburgh local authority area.
Simon Milne MBE, Regius Keeper of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh said: “We are calling on the people of Edinburgh to show their support by visiting Christmas at the Botanics.
“By coming to the trail not only will visitors enjoy a wonderful festive experience but also help us and our work enormously. Profits from the trail go to help finance our important and innovative plant research and conservation programmes in Scotland and around the world. Never has our work been more crucial as we face the interrelated challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, biodiversity loss and climate change.
“This has been a hugely difficult year for us all. At the Botanics, we want to end the year by creating something very special for the City and we hope everyone will come and enjoy some festive fun.”
More information on the trail can be found at rbge.org.uk/christmas.
The website also contains information for those people who held tickets between 26 November and 1 December with an option to transfer a ticket to another date, request a refund or option to donate the cost of the ticket to the Botanics which will help to support the vital research and conservation that the charity provides.
