Where's the scents in scratch 'n' sniff screening?

I was alerted earlier this afternoon to an upcoming outdoor film event here in Edinburgh that will take place in Festival Square on the newly installed Big Screen: a scratch 'n' sniff presentation of 1981 Scottish comedy Gregory's Girl on Sunday 26 July.

According to promotional blurb the event "At key points the public will be prompted to sniff one of a number of mystery scents on the scratch cards provided, which correspond with the scene on screen. Some will be literal, others more abstract...will it be freshly mown grass, or sweaty socks?"

Sounds charming.

While I'm all for the promotion of cinema in as many venues as possible, this event doesn't inspire confidence. Do Edinburgh film fans really want to sit beside the busy Lothian Road on a potentially cold/wet/snowy (this is Scotland, anything's possible) evening to watch a film?

According to a report in this very newspaper, the Big Screen will cost Edinburgh residents a whopping £200,000 over the next three years and is a partnership between Edinburgh Council, the BBC and the London 2012 Olympics. Excellent value for money if you like sports.

Comments in response to a question I posed on Twitter earlier today - "I don't quite get the outdoor screen in Festival Square. What's the point?" - didn't exactly meet with a positive response:

@andrewghayes using more electricity, i suppose

@wikiup Not sure about the ScratchNSniff nor outdoor, but I like it. Would love to see GG in its original language!

@illicitstill Apparently its for the Olympics,we can all sit in the pouring rain & watch the Londinium fiasco unfold in front of our eyes!!

@tom7p there is no point to the Festival Square screen. it is just another bbc folly.

There was one positive response however:

@cwelton There's one in Manchester and it's become a really nice focal point. We there sat and watched Eurovision this year lol!

I should also quote Bren O'Callaghan, manager of the Big Screen Edinburgh, who noted in the Evening News article that Gregory's Girl was the overwhelming choice for the scratch 'n' sniff experience, picked by a cross-section of people from the city's schools, colleges and art galleries. He said: "I've been touring these institutions for the last six months to canvas opinion, and whether I was talking to a teenage schoolboy or a mature city artist – all of them said Gregory's Girl was the one."

Also, any chance to see a Bill Forsyth film on a big screen should be applauded so here's hoping it at least gets some new fans from this screening.

But will you be there on 26 July to sniff Gregory's socks or would you rather buy the DVD?