Eastbourne Christmas celebrations cancelled

Meads Magic will not take place this year after a list of factors have given the organisers ‘no alternative’ but to cancel the celebrations in November.

Terrie Rintoul and the Meads Magic team said, “It is with great sadness we have to announce that Meads Magic will not take place in 2020.

“We have delayed making a final decision until now on the basis that because of the change of team last year we didn’t really begin the serious work until August.

“We have been in regular contact with the council’s events team, plus their health and safety consultant, since March in the hope the situation would change and we could find some way for it to go ahead.”

The team said its initial thoughts were to focus only on the street market, without Santa’s Grottos, but it ‘is clear now’ it would be ‘unwise’ to do this.

A spokesperson said, “The underlying problem is the narrowness of Meads Street which would make social distancing difficult even if the event was stripped down to just a street market.

“There are talks of things getting worse as the weather becomes colder – second spikes, the threat of local lockdowns, the fact the organising team, plus practically all of our marshals, are over retirement age and could be vulnerable have combined to give us no alternative but to cancel it.

“It is also doubtful whether enough people would risk coming out to make it worthwhile.”

The team said they will do their best to make next year’s event, which is planned for Friday November 26, ‘bigger and better than ever’.

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