Councillors vote to cancel Cambridge Big Weekend

Cambridge Big Weekend has been cancelled after the city council said the “expensive” event could no longer continue in its current form.

A majority of councillors voted to end the annual free music event at a meeting of the full council last night (Thursday, February 23).

The city council expects to save £113,000 a year by cancelling the Big Weekend, but said it plans to invest in more localised events across Cambridge.

The decision was met with backlash from some opposition councillors, with the Liberal Democrat group arguing the council should continue the event this year, and explore other ways to continue the festival.

Deputy leader Cllr Alex Collis (Lab, King’s Hedges), the executive councillor for open spaces, food justice and community development, said the council needed to spend money where it benefitted the most people. She also highlighted that savings needed to be made.

Cllr Collis said she had heard people’s concerns about cancelling the event but said it was “expensive” and could not continue in its current form.

“Infrastructure costs are up across events, sponsorships are down, you do the maths, because we certainly have,” said Cllr Collis.

She said the city council would be looking at how it can incorporate some of the “most valuable aspects” of the Big Weekend into other events in the city.

Cllr Lucy Nethsingha (Lib Dem, Newnham), who is also the leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, said it was “shocking” that the event was planned to be cancelled.

She said the festival brought people together from different parts of the community and suggested it should not be cut in a year where money was being put into reserves.

Cllr Cheney Payne (Lib Dem, Castle) accused the administration of making a “knee jerk cut” instead of looking at other ways to keep the event going in some form.

Cllr Collis said none of the decisions in the budget were “knee jerk” and the proposals were “pragmatic decisions about getting the most out of limited funding”.

Cllr Martin Smart (Lab, King’s Hedges) added: “Parties are great when you can afford it, but times are tough.”

Council leader Cllr Anna Smith (Lab, Coleridge) said the authority did not want to be in this position, but said the council had to make around £11million of savings over the next five years, and said “very difficult decisions” had to be made.