Coronavirus: Staging of Royal National Mòd in the Highlands this year is postponed
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One of the biggest cultural events of the 2020 Highland calendar has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Royal National Mòd – which was due to be held in Inverness between October 9 and 17 – will now be staged in the city next year instead.
Organisers at An Comunn Gàidhealach made the decision late last night.
It is the biggest festival of Gaelic in the world and would have brought thousands of competitors and upwards of £4 million to the city’s economy.
A number of events to raise money for the Mòd had already been cancelled due to the pandemic.
Inverness will now host the Mòd from October 8-16 in 2021.
A spokesman for An Comunn Gàidhealach said: "We will be holding talks with future host local authorities regarding rescheduling future Royal National Mòds and further details on this will be announced in the near future.
"We are deeply saddened that we won’t see you this year, but we look forward to meeting together again in Inverness in October 2021."
Prior to the decisions, organisers had held discussions with key parties including Highland Council, which makes an annual grant on the premise the Mòd will be staged in the region relatively often.
The Royal National Mòd was due to be in Perth next year and Paisley in 2022.
When the Royal National Mòd was held in the Inverness in October 2014 it attracted more than 5000 people to the area, and was said to have made more than £3.5 million for the local economy.
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