Popular event is cancelled due to “other commitments and personal reasons”
A file photo of Barton Bike Night 2024(Image: Donna Clifford/GrimsbyLive)
The annual Barton Bike Night has been cancelled this year. The organisers thanked people for their support over the years, but said it was time for them to call it a day.
However, if anybody wanted to revive the Barton event in 2027, they were “more than happy to do a handover”. They added events like these “cannot survive without support and the help of volunteers”.
The event was previously cancelled in 2021 due to crowd control concerns during the Covid pandemic. Other than that brief hiatus, it was a regular success and united thousands of bikers from across the country.
Jonathan Evison, chair of the committee, told BBC News he was “really, really sad” to be cancelling Barton Bike Night, but they needed more volunteers for it to be sustainable.
“It’s just the dwindling numbers of organisers. It’s getting too much for us and we’re all getting older,” he said.
In a statement on their Facebook page, the organisers said: “The event this year will not be going ahead (but hopefully will return in 2027). We are hanging up our biking gear after running the event for the past years, this is due to other commitments and personal reasons.
“If a new team of volunteers wish to organise and manage the event in the future we are more than happy to do a handover of information and documents, as well as advice from our experiences. It has been and hopefully will be in the future, a great event for the town.
“But it cannot survive without support and the help of volunteers. We thank everyone for their support.
“And don’t shoot the messenger! Events can only happen when people make them happen, so if anyone isn’t happy, don’t just comment, step up and organise!”
Reacting to the news, one supporter said: “Well done for the past years. You worked so hard to make it happen and it’s so sad to hear that this fantastic event is cancelled. I do so hope that others will step in to organise next year.”
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