Cheshire's Geronimo festival cancelled again as families outraged over lost booking fees

Families have expressed their frustration, labelling the cancellation of the Geronimo family festival as 'an absolute farce'. The event, which was scheduled to take place at Arley Hall in Cheshire this August, has been scrapped due to poor ticket sales.

Previously postponed from May 2023, the festival's organiser Simon Goldman cited 'current economic conditions', including 'spiralling costs' and 'the significant squeeze' on household incomes, as reasons for the initial delay.

Goldman pointed to the unpredictable weather as a deterrent for potential attendees this year, stating it has rendered the festival 'unsustainable in its current format'. He suggested that future iterations of the event might move indoors to avoid weather-related issues.

However, the immediate outcome is hundreds of disappointed families, some of whom are upset about losing money since booking fees are not being refunded.

"Every year there's something," Samantha Duffy commented on Geronimo's Facebook page announcement, reports the Manchester Evening News.

"No surprise there. Absolute farce," Steve Carpenter added. He had previously spoken to us when last year's event was cancelled, expressing his dissatisfaction with being issued a face value ticket for this August instead of receiving a refund.

Geronimo has announced with regret that the Geronimo Children's Festival, scheduled for 23rd-26th August 2024, will not take place. In a heartfelt statement, they expressed their gratitude to everyone who contributed to the festival: "With a heavy heart, we announce that Geronimo Children's Festival is no more and our scheduled event on 23rd-26th August 2024 has been cancelled. We thank all those involved in it, the directors, staff and artists who all put their hearts and soul into the event."

They cited the unpredictable British weather and last-minute bookings as reasons for the cancellation: "The great British weather is not always kind and with a huge percentage of festival-goers holding off booking until the last week, the event has become an unsustainable financial risk."

Ticket refunds are being handled by Ticketline: "Ticketline will arrange the face value refund of all valid tickets (including those rolled over from previous years). Please note we have no access to ticketholder details and are unable to assist with refunds directly. All ticket enquiries should be addressed to customerservices@ticketline.co.uk or call 0161 813 2222."

The organisers also thanked the families, performers, and suppliers who made the festival memorable: "Thank you to all the families, performers and suppliers who made Geronimo Festival a magical experience for so many children over the last decade. We hope you will cherish the memories of your time in our festival fields and wish everyone a wonderful summer."

Disappointed parents have voiced their sadness on social media, with Helen Clintworth commenting: "Aww so sorry to hear this we had an amazing time there 2 years ago and we're so looking forward to going again."

The event, which debuted at Tatton Park in 2015 showcasing CBeebies and CITV stars, has in recent years shifted to Arley Hall. Mr Goldman has not been a stranger to controversy.

Back in 2018, he placed his company Geronimo Festivals UK Ltd into voluntary liquidation amidst claims of unpaid artists and performers from the festival.

Subsequently, he established a new entity, Geronimo Events Ltd, and continued with the festival while also initiating a Winter Funland event at EventCity in Trafford, which incited further discontent among creditors.

In conversation with the Manchester Evening News, he explained the rationale behind cancelling this year's festival: "Whilst we are basking in glorious sunshine, nobody could've predicted this two weeks ago. The weather had become so uncertain, especially around bank holidays, causing the public to hold off until the very last minute to buy tickets for outdoor events. This has just made the festival unsustainable in its current format."

He added, "As a firm family favourite with such a huge diverse amount of entertainment we are looking into the possibility of hosting Geronimo indoors which makes the event weatherproof, similar to Insomnia58 which takes place at a the NEC."

He concluded with a message: "Wishing all the staff and entertainers who have made Geronimo a firm family favourite a restful summer holidays from the team at Geronimo."

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