Organisers call off next year’s steam fair again

ORGANISERS behind one of the West’s most popular annual events have confirmed next year’s renewal has been cancelled due to rising costs.

The Great Dorset Steam Fair has in the past attracted around 200,000 enthusiasts to Tarrant Hinton near Blandford Forum.

The board of directors said that they have had to make a “very difficult decision” about the 2024 event.

Great Dorset Steam Fair (GDSF) managing director Martin Oliver said he was disappointed with the news but hoped a 2025 event could take place.

He said: “The GDSF is a worldrenowned event and is enormously popular but, sadly, the harsh reality is that there is little we can do financially to make running the 2024 event financially viable.

“Post-pandemic, operating costs increased disproportionately when compared to our income and would increase substantially again in 2024.

“The country is still gripped in the cost-of-living crisis and we do not believe that we can risk imposing a significant increase in ticket and camping prices without drastically reducing attendance at the event. So, a perfect storm situation exists.”

The steam fair had taken place since 1969, although the 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year’s event was also cancelled with the hope that it would return next summer.

The cost of the 2022 event had “rocketed” by £700,000 from £3.5 million in 2019, and the costs of staging another would be almost £5 million, the directors said.

To meet rising costs, organisers would have had to raise ticket and camping prices by 70 to 75 per cent which they thought inappropriate amid a cost-of-living crisis.

Mr Oliver added: “As an organisation, we have looked at every option possible financially to try and find a way forward. This has also included putting the event up for sale over the past few months.

“Whilst there has been interest in the sale of the event and discussions are ongoing, we are yet to finalise a deal that would enable the 2024 event to run.

“With this in mind, we are very aware of the timing for all involved, for visitors to section leaders, staff, contractors and exhibitors who need to reserve the dates to ensure their availability/book time off work etc and for the management team to organise the event.

“This is not the news that everyone who enjoys the GDSF was hoping for and no one is more disappointed with this outcome than us as organisers. It is a desperately sad situation that we are unable to continue but unfortunately, despite our best endeavours, the current position is that the 2024 show will not be running.

“Nevertheless, the event remains for sale and we remain hopeful that there may be a Great Dorset Steam Fair in 2025 and the present management team will do all we can to assist in making this happen. My sincere thanks to everyone for your loyal and past support – it is very much appreciated.”