Bury St Edmunds Christmas Spectacular event cancelled ‘due to the weather conditions’, following negative comments on social media

A new festive event in Bury St Edmunds which promised to transform part of the town into a winter wonderland has been cancelled.

Bury St Edmunds Christmas Spectacular opened on land at the rear of the town’s rugby club on Friday and was set to run for three weekends, however this morning the event ticket website said all future dates were now cancelled.

The announcement followed numerous social media complaints about the event over the weekend.

This morning’s announcement said: “What you need to know: Unfortunately, due to the weather conditions and the forecast for the following weekends, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the upcoming events.

“All ticket holders will be contacted directly. We sincerely apologise for any disappointment this has caused.”

Pre-publicity for the outdoor event had promised activities for the family, including an ice skating rink, fairground rides, aprés ski big top, Santa’s grotto, Christmas cinema for children, live shows, DJs, performers, the chance to meet reindeer, seasonal stalls, festive refreshments and face painting.

However, families complained on social media of poor organisation, just one fairground ride on site and lack of festive atmosphere.

Lisa Fisher, of Bury, who visited with her family yesterday, said: “It could have been a lovely event if they teamed up with local vendors, but sadly it was nothing like what was advertised.

“We were there no longer than five minutes. It was lacking in the community spirit – there was 10, maybe 15 people there when we went.”

Tickets for the event had cost up to £6 per person.

Katrina O’Keeffe, who paid £16 to visit with her grandchildren, described the event as ‘dreadful’.

She said: “First we were told we couldn’t park on site so we had to park at Dobbies and walk over the main road. We got there to rusty dirty old ice skates and an awful rink, a ferris wheel I wouldn’t put my dog in, no characters, no other rides, a few food carts charging the earth, one woman face painting for more than 40 children, at a cost, and waiting.”

The event organisers were contacted for comment.