ORGANISERS of the annual Gullane Games have vowed to try to ensure an event takes place this summer, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

A number of galas and festivals have been cancelled or scaled back this summer.

The village event was due to get under way on the final day of this month, with the organisers confirming they were trying to ensure 2021 did not pass without some form of celebration.

They took to social media to keep people up to date and said: “Like everyone else, the Gullane Games committee has been keeping an eye on how the Covid-19 restrictions develop to try and work out what can happen safely and compliantly this year.

“We have taken a number of assessments at various points in the year and, as the risks and uncertainty were still too high, we simply could not commit.

“What is clear is that there is still a degree of uncertainty and as the number of cases in the county is high, it is extremely likely that some restrictions will still be in place come Games Week.

“This unfortunately means that we will not be able to run either Gullane Games Week (starting on July 31) or the Games day on August 7 in the traditional manner.

“We are, however, very keen that we do try and run some events.

“So, assuming the restrictions don’t take a backwards step, the Games committee is planning to run a number of activities throughout Games Week.

“These will focus mainly on the usual sporting drop-in sessions for kids as well as some new ones, sprinkled with a couple of the more Covid-friendly of our usual activities.”

The organisers have been awarded some funding from East Lothian Council’s Get into Summer programme, with plans being drawn up to mark the occasion.

The spokesperson was also hopeful 2022 would mark a return to the traditional format of the Gullane Games.

They added: “We are, however, very short of committee members so we will be looking for some fresh blood on the committee to make sure Games Week 2022 makes up for what we have missed.”