A CALL has been made to scrap next year’s 1940s weekend in Barnard Castle.
The event is usually held in late June and is organised by the town council.
It features a number of re-enactment groups, promenaders in period dress and other vintage-themed concerts, events and activities.
This year’s 1940s weekend was called off due to the pandemic and with continued uncertainty as to what the next few months could bring, Cllr Sandra Moorhouse told members of the town council’s partnerships committee the best thing to do would be to call it off again. She also said expecting the depleted town council staffing team to help organise the event would be asking too much of them.
Cllr Moorhouse, who was a driving force behind the establishment of a 1940s weekend in the town, also questioned whether the town council should be spending taxpayers’ money on such an event when many people were struggling financially due to the economic impact of Covid-19.
“We need to be cutting back on as much as we can. I know it’s in the budget but I really feel that we that we don’t get the support of everybody in town. Events should be for the majority of people,” she said.
“We do not want to be bringing people into town in large numbers if we are in a situation where we are fairly free of it (Covid) and other areas are not.”
Cllr Moorhouse added: “Whatever the situation is like with Covid, we still have a problem with our capacity to do the event. It takes a lot of people and time.”
Mayor Cllr John Blissett said he wanted to wait until the new year until a decision was made to “see how things unfold” and suggested the money still be put aside for the 1940s weekend.
It was pointed out that a decision was needed one way or the other before the council set its budget on January 11.
Cllr Richard Child said he understood the point Cllr Moorhouse was making and urged a meeting of those involved in organising the 1940s be convened “sooner rather than later” .
Cllr Rima Chatterjee said the council should “down play” its events for next year.
Committee chairman Cllr Ian Kirkbride added: “A lot of people will be crying out for something to do by June and looking to have some element of entertainment.”
Susan Coffer, manager of The Witham, told councillors she was holding the dates in June 2021 open should the event go ahead.
It was agreed to organise an urgent meeting to assess the situation regarding the 1940s weekend.
