‘Range of other activities’ promised after 1940s event cancelled
A charitable trust in Lincolnshire has promised a "range of other activities" after the cancellation[1] of a popular 1940s event. Organisers of the annual Woodhall Spa[2] 1940s Festival announced it would not return in 2024 due to soaring costs.
The festival committee said the decision had been made with "great sadness". Joe Stanhope, the COO of Jubilee Park Woodhall Spa Ltd - a charitable trust that operates Jubilee Park - said: "We’re sorry to see the demise of the 1940s festival and we won’t be having any events in the park on what would have been the 40s weekend in July.
"But we’re busy pulling together a range of other activities for 2024 that we hope will delight and entertain our visitors and add to the Woodhall Spa year." He added: "Like everyone else, Covid and the subsequent energy and cost of living crisis have hit us hard, but Jubilee Park will continue to remain at the centre of the community for celebrations and leisure as well as its vital role in keeping the community fit."
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Events planned range from those involving other community organisations and music in the bandstand to the popular big-ticketed concerts that help to keep the park financially viable. Mr Stanhope advised to keep an eye on the Jubilee Park website for future updates.
The 1940s festival organisers released a statement on social media at the beginning of November announcing the cancellation of the popular annual event. Part of their statement reads: "Sadly, operating costs have now simply become too high for us to carry on.
"As our free event has become more and more popular year-on-year, the costs of keeping so many people safe, secure, well-served with the right infrastructure, like traffic management, medical cover and insurances, and entertained with the kind of wide range of performances and re-enactments any crowd deserves, have risen very sharply.
"Those costs also show no signs of easing in future years, in fact they are likely to increase even more. At the same time our income and reserves have been slowly eroded by external factors."
References
- ^ cancellation (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
- ^ Woodhall Spa (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
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