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Organisers of 'diabolical' cheese festival promise finale will be a success despite backlash

Foodies heading to a cheese festival next week have been promised their visit will be a happy one after a backlash against the organisers' previous event.

Visitors to The Giant Cheeseboard, a festival promising unlimited cheese and mulled wine for a £30 entrance fee, complained this weekend's event was "diabolical".

They flooded the festival's Facebook page with disastrous reviews claiming supplies of cheese ran out, and wine was limited to two glasses at the venue in a nightclub in Greenwich.

The fourth and final event is due to take place on Saturday, and organisers have issued a defiant message to critics who blasted the previous festival.

They wrote on Facebook: "For ticket holders to the final session on Dec 23rd we would encourage you to come along and take your time to explore the venue and experience a) the fact that there categorically is unlimited cheese and b) there are loads of fun things to do whilst you are eating (check out the comedy, compete in the quiz, interact with our mice, dance in the disco room, sing in the karaoke, take snaps at our photo spots or just chill out and chat in our giant cheese board terrace)."

The statement came after disgruntled foodies shared negative reviews of their experiences at the event this weekend, as well as pictures appearing to show cheese supplies running low.

“The cheese was really poor. The mulled wine was cold and weak,” customer James Young said. “Things that were on your event map weren’t even present.”

Another person who went to the weekend event said: “I have never been to an event where there were so many unhappy people” while others demanded their money back.

Mark Byrne called it the “worst event ever” adding: “Not just bad cheese. Terrible organisation.”

Organisers also rebuffed accusations that they had ran out of cheese, claiming there were “mountains” all throughout the event, and said the mulled wine was served from heated dispensers so was not cold.

“The fact is that a LOT of people had a great time,” they added. “We have so many videos and photos of all the fun that was happening around the venue - but a small proportion of people had expected something else.”

“As with any event, there were, of course, some queues in the first hour or so for certain things. However, there was loads of stuff happening all over the venue and two large areas where you could get access to cheese almost immediately, plus servers walking around the queues handing out cheese and greeters at the doors with cups of mulled wine.

“We are truly passionate about cheese and have put months of planning and huge investment into this project,” they added.

“We are obviously very upset seeing any negative reactions at all, but to make the statement some of you are in messages and social media is just totally unfair and false!”

The Standard has contacted the organisers of the event for further comment.

Last year, another London cheese event was met with a similar backlash after people complained huge crowds meant the evening descend into chaos.