Blackwood’s Big Balloon Festival cancelled
Saturday January 23rd, 2010
Blackwood's Big Balloon event has been axed to save £50,000.
Blackwood’s annual Big Balloon Festival has been scrapped after poor weather ruined past events.
A report to Caerphilly County Borough Council by its chief executive Stuart Rosser said that despite attracting thousands of people, the event had run its course and should be axed.
Instead an expanded Bedwellty Agricultural Show will be held on the Blackwood show field on August Bank Holiday weekends.
The report said: “The balloons are completely dependent on the weather, they have only launched en-masse on both days on one occasion in the last four events.
“At the 2007 event on the Bank Holiday Monday a mass launch did happen but a relatively small audience remained, indicating that the majority of the public that had visited throughout the day had not necessarily come for the mass balloon launch.”
Although the weather has affected the number of launches in previous years, the council still has to pay out £16,000 for experts to manage the balloon launch.
The overall cost of running the Big Balloon was £60,000. The council will now divert £9,000 of that cash to the River of Light lantern parade to safeguard that event and save the rest in light of probable future budget cuts.
The report makes it clear that Caerphilly’s Big Cheese Festival, usually held the last weekend of July, is not under threat.
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I would just like to say that myself and my family are very dissappointed at this we go to the festival every year come rain or shine the children look forward to it and have so much fun aswell as myself i think they should reconsider their decision please.
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i have just tried to see when the ballon festival will be going ahead and found out that its not me and my children have been going for the last few years even in the rain and had a great day out even though we traveled a good way to get there hope you do reconsider because me and my children will be very disappointed
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i am really disapointed that the festival has been cancelled.me and my family go every year despite the weather and really have a good time.The festival is the best thing that has happened in blackwood and even though the bedwelty show is going to be extended i do not think it will appeal to the majority of people like the balloon festival did.bring back the festival as it is good family fun!!!
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I agree the festival is normally good fun but now its become quite boaring. same bands same rides in the funfair and same firworks display every year. glad they are keeping the bedwellty show i really like event
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