Organisers of the popular Playday event at Highbridge’s Apex Park have confirmed it has been cancelled this year due to a funding shortfall caused by Somerset Council’s financial pressures.
The event’s committee said in January that the event was under threat and have now confirmed the summer event won’t be going ahead.
Last year, the 2023 Apex Park Playday attracted 6,000 visitors.
Organiser Rosie Pike, pictured above with helpers and supporters, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I’m afraid the committee aren’t able to run Playday this year. Somerset Council aren’t able to support it due to their financial situation.”
The Playdays are one of the largest such events in the country and they started at Apex Park in 2009.
They enable parents to have a day-off from spending their hard-earned money to keep children entertained for free during the summer holidays while encouraging families to spend quality time together in the outdoors.
Rosie added: “There’s normally over 40 free activities, all of which needs funding for the thousands of visitors who attend each year.”
A Someret Council spokeswoman adds: “Somerset Council was able to set a balanced budget for the coming financial year after members agreed to a range of measures to bridge a funding gap of £100m.”
“The Council looked at all non-statutory services to find savings and has taken a series of difficult decisions including cuts to services, increases to Council Tax, fees and charges, spending reserves, selling assets and property, and embarking on a top-to-bottom transformation programme which will reduce the size of our workforce by more than 20%.”
“The financial emergency facing this and other councils across the country is well documented and will have very real impacts on local people. We have had to make cuts to services we greatly value but simply cannot afford.”
Apex Park Playday is one of the largest such events in the country. The park received a Green Flag Award last year.
It comes after Somerset Council declared a financial emergency in November 2023 and has had to find millions of pounds of savings to avoid going effectively bankrupt.
