Fleetwood Festival of Transport cancelled due to adverse weather this weekend

With westerly winds of up to 35 mph forecast by the Met Office, the coordinators felt they had no choice but to call off the festival, which had been due to be staged on Sunday (July 16).

The free event, which incorporates the street theatre element SpareParts, has been hailed as the largest free transport festival in the UK and incudes huge displays of classic cars, lorries, bikes and trams, and lively entertainment.

But coordinators did not want to take any risks as weather conditions are predicted to take a serious turn for the worse.

The news follows confirmation that Fleetwood Lifeboat Station Open Day, scheduled for this Saturday, had also been called off for the same reasons.

What they said

In a statement on the Fleetwood Festival of Transport Facebook site, organisers said: “It’s with deep sadness that after consultation with key stakeholders, including our insurers and their legal department, we’ve had to take the decision to cancel Fleetwood Festival of Transport and the SpareParts Festival for 2023.

“We’ve been monitoring the weather hourly but unfortunately as at 14:00 today (2pm, Friday July 14)14 the the Met Office weather forecast for Sunday July 16 is westerly winds of up to 35mph.

“To safely continue with the festival in these conditions is unfeasible for many reasons, particularly because of the number of gazebos and temporary structures on site.

“We always have and always will put visitor and participant safety first. It’s of the upmost importance and the reason why we have taken the decision to cancel the festival.

“To say we are disappointed is an understatement.

"Our volunteers have worked for months planning this event.

"They are passionate about our community and the festival and bringing people to Fleetwood to experience our lovely town and boost the local economy.

“We’d like to say a big thank you to all the performers, vendors and community groups who were due to take part in the parade and the festival.”

The committee said they would be contacting those involved as soon as possible to explain what will happen with their bookings.

The statement added: “Unfortunately due to the logistics of road closure planning and participants having bookings

throughout the rest of the year, we are unable to postpone the festival to a later date in 2023.

"We hope you understand and support our decision and will return to the festival with us in 2024.”

Chairman’s statement

Terry Rogers, Chairman of Directors/Operations Manager, said: “We’ve been working tirelessly for the past 10 months to make sure this event went ahead.

"We are totally devastated we have had to take this decision.

"On behalf of everyone at Fleetwood Festival Of Transport (Tram Sunday) we applaud the efforts of everyone who has helped us and booked to be part of the festival but our upmost priority is the safety and wellbeing of those who attend the event.

“We’re very aware of how many people this affects and we appreciate your understanding. Rest

assured, the festival will be back in 2024.”