Riverside dubbed 'Goose Fair by the Trent' after fireworks and music cancelled

Fans of Nottingham's Riverside Festival say this year's event will resemble a "Goose Fair by the Trent" after the city council confirmed fireworks and music would be scrapped. Although the mile-long funfair and dragon boat racing will be preserved, all other elements of the popular festival will go.

The festival on the Victoria Embankment has been going since 1973 and brought in an estimated 250,000 visitors during its 2023 run. Yet Nottingham City Council says the tight financial situation it is in means it would not be "appropriate" to spend taxpayers' money on things like fireworks.

Many reacted angrily to the news, with scores of people who had planned to attend Riverside saying they would not be going. Commenting on Nottinghamshire Live's Facebook page, Ian Bearder said: "Used to look forward to this each August but most definitely won't go now there's no live music. Would [have] taken my daughter to watch the bands but not now. R.I.P Riverside Festival thanks for [the] memories."

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Shirley Arnold said: "I was looking forward to that, finally it fell on my days off. I'm bloody angry."

Iain Swift commented that the event would simply be "Goose Fair by the Trent", whilst another person not attending is Brian Ireland, who said: "I won't bother going then, I wonder how many more will decide to stay away.

"You've got to feel sorry for the ride owners though, they will still have to pay the council a fortune to stand or maybe they will decide it's not worth it either."

Others were more positive and said they would still be going to Riverside, with Lynn Young writing: "Loved the fireworks but can understand why they have cancelled them. We will still go and enjoy the fair."

Yet others said Nottingham City Council should have prioritised Riverside above other events, with Ben Holmes adding: "So. They will still have 'the beach' the 'ey up duck' market. Do both of these bring 250,000 people in a day to the area? The answer is no.

"I doubt they do this in a week or a month. But you pull the biggest single draw to an area. It's on par with the numbers Goose Fair brings in nine days but all in two days. This should be just done and the fireworks and markets held properly. 250,000 people can't be wrong."

A Nottingham City Council spokesperson previously said: "At a time when we face difficult decisions to make savings on our services, it is not possible, or appropriate, to spend taxpayers' money on fireworks and live music. We've worked hard over the past few months to ensure that Riverside Festival can still go ahead this year for families – and that there is no cost to taxpayers.

"We're trying to make good things happen for our city in the face of significant pressure on budgets. Our view was that it was better to scale back Riverside this time rather than cancel it."