Lincoln Christmas Market Cancelled

The Lincoln Christmas Market has been cancelled due to the severe weather conditions in the city and the wider region.

Taking advice from partners, including Lincolnshire Police, East Midlands Ambulance Service and Lincolnshire County Council Highways, organisers at the City of Lincoln Council have taken the decision to cancel the event.

Rob Bradley from the City Council is in charge of safety at the event.  He said: “It is with extreme regret that we have taken the decision to cancel the Lincoln Christmas Market this year.  It has taken extreme weather conditions to do this, the first time it’s happened in the history of the market.

“Safety is our absolute priority at the Lincoln Christmas Market.  Police advice is for people not to travel at all unless it is absolutely necessary, so we don’t want to encourage visitors and stallholders to travel to come along and risk getting stuck on the roads, or worse.  The decision to cancel the event was a unanimous decision of all partners on the market’s safety advisory group.  

“We work with many other organisations to stage this event, including the police, fire and ambulance services and county highways.  All of these organisations are working flat out to deal with the severe weather conditions already.

“With more snow predicted for the coming days, we have taken this decision as early as possible, so people can rearrange their plans.  I apologise to all those visitors and stallholders who are disappointed, but with the weather as it is, there wasn’t another option.”

Councillor Darren Grice, Leader of the City of Lincoln Council, said: “Obviously, we’re incredibly sad to have to cancel the Christmas Market for the first time.  The event is extremely popular, and attracts visitors from all over the country and beyond.  However, the safety of our local residents, visitors, stallholders and staff is the most important thing, and we don’t want to put people at risk.”

Chief Inspector Kieron English, said: “Our overriding concern is public safety, and due to the atrocious conditions over the last couple of days and potentially over the next couple of days, we can’t guarantee that safety.”

For anyone considering attending the Lincoln Christmas Market, please be aware of the events scheduled for Spilsby this Saturday instead.