Edinburgh council is to dramatically scale back the city’s Christmas celebrations after they went massively over budget in 2009.

The events that usually take place in West Princes Street Gardens have been cancelled, including Santa and his reindeer and the Santa Express train line. The annual Great Scottish Santa Fun Run has also been cut from the programme.

The cutbacks come after last year’s celebrations went more than £100,000 over budget. Sponsorship is also down from 2009, with only £7500 of private sponsorship having been secured so far. The Government is expected to pledge an additional £20,000 but total funding for the 2010 celebrations is still only £567,249, compared with £811,414 last year.

The council has also cut its own contribution by £25,000.

Ron Hewitt, chief executive of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: "I am sure businesses will understand if the council has to pull back the amount it is spending.

"As a consumer, enjoying Christmas is not about how much you spend.

"If we stop being totally focused on money, a meaningful Christmas festival is about much more than how much people spend."

A spokeswoman for Edinburgh council stressed that children in Edinburgh will still be able to meet Santa and give him their letters.

She said: "He will be in the Traditional Highland Village in Princes Street Gardens.
"It's a different part in the gardens than normal, but it might even be easier for parents, as it is the place where all the other activities such as the German Market and the Wheel are.

"If we manage to find sponsorship for the other activities, they might be added to the program. But the main thing is that Santa will be coming to town."

It also emerged that organisers are hunting for a new operator of the ice rink on Princes Street Gardens after tearing up their contract with Karen Koren, who has previously managed the attraction.

A new analysis of audience numbers revealed that the number of people that attended the Winter Wonderland ice rink and bungydome slumped by 46 per cent last year, to 34,458.

Councillor Steve Cardownie, the city's festivals and events champion, said: "Clearly, given the difficult financial climate, we are obliged to cut our cloth accordingly while continuing to provide an exciting programme with all of our core elements including a new improved ice rink, our Traditional German Christmas Market and the Highland Village along with the Edinburgh Wheel.

"We are currently in productive talks with a number of prospective sponsors which will bring additional features to the core programme."