Thousands miss out as Burnside Council axes major Christmas carols event days beforehand
Thousands of Christmas revellers are disappointed after Burnside cancelled its carols on Friday – and it won’t be rescheduled. Here’s why.
Burnside Council feared wild winds could bring down trees on people at its Christmas carols, forcing it to cancel the hugely popular event.
And because of the huge amount of planning involved, it said it was impossible to move the event to another date.
The council axed Friday night’s popular Carols in the Park event on Wednesday fearing forecast rainfall of up to 20mm and thunderstorms would put attendees and staff at risk.
The highly anticipated event would have been held at Hazelwood Park between 4.30pm to 8.30pm, hosted by Lauren De Cesare of Adelady and news presenter Tom Rehn.
Darren Baines, the council’s team leader of events and activation, said the annual event normally attracts about 3000 to 4000 people.
“When we look at winds that are forecasted … we just can’t take that kind of risk when we bring … ultimately 3000 to 4000 people together,” Mr Baines told ABC Radio.
“It does have a lot of large trees and we obviously look at that as well, so a number of (things) go into that decision and it all ultimately does come down to managing risk.”
Event organisers had planned a thrilling night for locals, with performances from musical acts, dancers, bands and the special guest of the night, Father Christmas.
Council had also enlisted 11 food and beverage vendors.
“We feel the pain for our event partners,” Mr Baines said.
“We certainly look to continue that relationship in the future working with those providers as much as possible.
“But we feel pretty confident that they understand that that’s the nature of these types of events.”
Mr Baines said the cancellation was a “devastating” and “tough” decision for the organisation.
“We always look forward to this much loved carols event and we don’t take these decisions lightly at all,” he said.
“We’ve been paying close attention to the forecast over the last few days and as it turns out, we’re looking at a pretty wet, miserable, cold and stormy Friday afternoon and evening.”
He explained the decision came after several consultations and “very carefully” analysing their risk plans.
“We always look at all the different risks associated with putting on large-scale outdoor events in particular, and weather obviously is one of those key considerations,” he said.
“When you look at the electrical implications of staging and audiovisual set-up … talking closely with our suppliers and understanding their responsibilities and their considerations, it was a very … clear decision for us (and) … just ensuring public safety on the night”.
Mr Baines said it was difficult to reschedule it to a later date because of the scale of the event.
“It is our largest event that we would put on during the year,” he said.
“When we look at the dozens of different contractors, performers, again, staging, audio, visual, rescheduling just isn’t really an option.” he said.
“We don’t have a fallback space inside … moving inside wasn’t really an option when we talk about carols in the park”.
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