The UK’s largest fireworks display has been cancelled and postponed due to a ‘severe’ wildfire alert in the region, as drought conditions continue to grip the country.
The Abingdon International Fireworks Festival in Oxfordshire has been pushed back from August 29 to April 10 next year, with organisers deciding it would be irresponsible to go ahead given the current conditions.
The cancellation follows the driest July ever recorded in Britain, with just 7mm of rainfall – a mere tenth of the monthly average.
Oxfordshire received even less rainfall than that, meaning the festival will now fall during the Easter holidays next year once rainfall resumes to remedy unusually dry conditions.
The wave of wildfires sweeping across the UK have seen millions of people in England and Wales receiving emergency alerts on their mobile phones, cautioning them about a “very high risk of wildfires nationally”.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has described Britain as a “tinderbox”, while authorities have imposed a temporary ban on disposable barbecues in response to the crisis.
Organisers of the Abingdon event, Xplosive Events Ltd, said: “This is not a decision we have taken lightly” when addressing the postponement.
Months of preparation and safety assessments, alongside the development of a comprehensive fire mitigation strategy, had already been completed before the postponement was confirmed.
Organisers of the Abingdon event said: ‘This is not a decision we have taken lightly’
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XPLOSIVE EVENTS LTD
Met Office chief meteorologist Will Lang acknowledged that some rain is expected next week, but that it was uncertain just how much, and whether it would be enough to ease conditions.
In light of the expert advice, organisers said: “There is some very welcome rain in the forecast, but unfortunately it will not be sufficient to reverse the effects of the prolonged dry weather or reduce the extreme fire risk to a level at which we believe it would be responsible to proceed.”
They stressed that protecting the community and emergency services personnel was their overriding concern.
“No fireworks display, however spectacular, is worth risking people’s homes, livelihoods, our countryside or the safety of those who would have to respond if something went wrong.”
They revealed that a pre-agreed safety threshold had been breached last week, at which point delaying the festival became the only responsible course of action.
The organisers added: “We know this will be disappointing for many of you. We are devastated too.
“There are enormous financial and practical consequences to postponing an event of this scale, but ultimately doing the right thing has to come before everything else.”
The team described the financial and practical consequences as “enormous”, but insisted that prioritising safety over all other considerations was the only acceptable approach.
Organisers stressed that tickets already purchased will remain valid for the rescheduled April date
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XPLOSIVE EVENTS LTD
They stressed that tickets already purchased will remain valid for the rescheduled April date.
Those holding standard admission tickets who cannot make the new date have the option of transferring their booking to the Abingdon Funfair and Fireworks event on November 14 instead.
VIP ticketholders, however, are not eligible for transfers.
All tickets remain non-refundable regardless of category – a policy the organisers have doubled down on, despite acknowledging the disruption caused by the change of date.