'Cancelling event was a hard decision but it was right'

An outdoor event in England, scheduled for October, has been cancelled. Its organiser, Barbara, says the decision was the hardest and worst of the whole event's preparation. She based the cancellation on the storm forecast and the risk to children's safety.

The hardest decision

Barbara says that creating the event and its concept seemed easier than having to call it off. She informed followers of her decision in an update on the event's social media feed.

Preparing for the storm

The organiser says that over the years the team has learned to secure the site from the very beginning. Everything had been strapped, pegged and prepared for an outdoor event in October, so the team was better prepared than ever before. Even so, on Saturday the team spent about four hours securing the site and laying down barriers. The site also lost power on Saturday.

She admits that storms are very stressful for her business. They can cause many sleepless nights, but she says that is part of running outdoor events.

Children's safety first

Barbara stresses that she would make the same decision "100 times over" if children's safety were at risk. She says the forecast was not wrong. In her words, the storm would have been very dangerous in the evening, and being under trees and near a lake would have been completely terrifying for everyone involved.