LOCKED, LOADED AND HOPING TO BEAT COVID-19 ODDS
Armed Forces Weekend ‘hopeful’ to go ahead in June if lockdown restrictions eased
ARMED Forces Weekend looks promising to beat the odds and go ahead in 2021 - as long as lockdown restrictions are eased in time.
Alex Baxter, managing director of the Armed Forces Events team, has confirmed that plans are being made for the weekend to happen and hope it will take place between June 25-27.
If this year’s event does go ahead, it will make the weekend one of the biggest events in the country to take place immediately after restrictions for large events are lifted.
Boris Johnson’s roadmap to recover from the coronavirus announced means large events, such as the Armed Forces Weekend, would be allowed following step four of the plans - which come into place on June 21 if infection rates allow.
This will come as a huge relief to the thousands of people who travel to Cleethorpes every year, who sadly had to miss out last year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Alex said: “We are getting quite excited about the event this year after having to cancel last year, but we knew it was necessary for that to happen. “We can only judge this year’s event off the safety and security we can guarantee at the weekend, and that is still uncertain.
“But, if it can go ahead, it absolutely will. will.”
The team have already started some planning for the event as if it was any regular year, but are waiting for further information before they can confirm for definite if it can happen.
Alex said: “We are about three to four weeks away before we have clarity on the situation, especially with how the Prime Minister’s plan is going. We need to answer a few questions about safety before we can confirm everything. “We have the last weekend in June as our set date for the event, but we are looking at the end of March before definitely going ahead with the event. “I know people are very keen for us to go ahead, but it just depends on a number of factors that are out of our control. We need everything to go well with reopening the country before a big event like ours can take place.
“The weekend brings more than £1 million in income to the area’s businesses, such as restaurants, hotels, and bars, so we understand how important it is to provide a massive bump in income for these businesses just after restrictions are lifted.
“We’re continuing to plan as if it’s going ahead, but there’s plenty of steps ahead of us before we get to the weekend.
“It’s a catch-22 at the moment, where we are planning as much as we can but also cannot confirm anything.
“But we’re very hopeful, like the rest of the country, but it just depends on what happens across the UK.”
It’s estimated that the last Armed Forces Weekend in 2019 brought more than 100,000 people to Cleethorpes.