Cost-of-living crisis pours cold water on Bonfire Night celebrations

Nottingham City Council has been forced to cancel its annual Bonfire Night celebrations due to “increased costs caused by the cost-of-living crisis.”

The fireworks display, organised in partnership with Mellors Group, was due to take place at the Forest Recreation Ground on Saturday 5 November for the first time in three years.

The council said “huge budget difficulties” exacerbated by rising inflation, energy costs and “other pressures” were responsible for the decision.

Councils in Manchester, Dundee, Cardiff, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow, Norwich and Hackney have also cancelled Bonfire Night events this year.

Councillor Pavlos Kotsonis, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Planning at Nottingham City Council, said: “We know the Bonfire Night event at The Forest is really popular with many people and we were so keen to run it this year after two years away due to Covid.

“We are not happy that the event had to be cancelled again. Unfortunately it’s one of the difficult decisions we had to take as we face increases in energy and prices in the broader economy. We were however really pleased to have had an extended ten-day Goose Fair which brought a lot of enjoyment to Nottingham families. The much-anticipated Christmas market will also be going ahead at no cost to the taxpayer.”

James Mellors of the Mellors Group added: “I understand the council’s position on this and I’m fully in support of them cancelling it for this year. It feels such a shame after doing this for over 30 years but these things have to be done under the present climate. We hope to work with the council to put on a bigger and better event next year.”

The Winter Wonderland attraction the Mellors Group runs in conjunction with the council is expected to go ahead as planned.