The Edinburgh Festival late licence that would see locals and tourists partying until the early hours in pubs and nightclubs every August has been cancelled.
The late licences take place over August, allowing pubs to stay open until 03:00 and nightclubs until 05:00.
However with the Fringe cancelled, the two-hour extended opening hours have been cancelled this summer by licensing officials, reports the BBC.
Many Edinburgh bar owners were looking forward to recouping some of the losses from months of closure during lockdown in the extra hours they could have been open.
The City of Edinburgh Council have said it was due to there being no festival this year.
Cammy Barnett, general manager of Tonic in North Castle Street in the centre of Edinburgh, told the BBC that he had been relying on the late licence going ahead.
"This is a shock," he said. "I am very disappointed as it would have made a huge difference to have extended hours each night as we really need to recoup the losses we have had during the last four months of lockdown.
"We are only able to run at 50% capacity just now so we are severely restricted in this building so it's another blow to lose the late licence."
Norman Work, chairman of City of Edinburgh Council's licensing board, told the BBC: "As the festivals are not going ahead due to the coronavirus this year, the board has made a decision not to go ahead with agreeing dates for licence extensions normally applicable during the festivals this summer.
"This information has been shared on the licensing board pages of the council's website and through social media."
