Organisers pull the plug on Wirral Show after 33 years

Dec 9 2009 by Lorna Hughes, Heswall News

ORGANISERS have pulled the plug on the Wirral Show after 33 years.

The annual two-day event started life in 1977 as a revival of the Wallasey Carnival.

It has since become one of the UK’s biggest free-to-enter attractions, drawing thousands of visitors each year to New Brighton Dips.

Volunteers from Wallasey Lions Club and the Rotary Club of Wallasey, together with Wallasey Round Table, have run the Wirral Show for many years with support from Wirral Council.

But they say the show has now become too big for a small group of volunteers to organise.

Show chairman Michael Emberton said the closure of Wallasey Round Table in May had also been a factor in the decision.

Mr Emberton said: “Given the way the show has grown over the years we have now reached a point where the complexities of such a huge operation are beyond what a group of committed volunteers reasonably may be expected to accomplish.

“None of us are getting any younger and we have less and less people.

“It had grown so big that we had to start thinking about the next year as soon as one show finished. It can’t just be organised a few weeks before the event.

“This year the show was in July and in May and June we had people asking about the 2010 show.”

In October, the Lions and Rotary clubs submitted separate resolutions to the Wirral Show Committee stating that they were unable to plan and organise the show in 2010 or in future years.

Mr Emberton said the decision was made after “a lot of careful consideration” and with “great regret”.

The clubs told Wirral Council of their decision in a letter to chief executive Steve Maddox.

Over the years Wirral Show audiences have enjoyed attractions like aerobatic and military displays, sheepdog demonstrations, music, a vintage and classic car cavalcade, clowns, motorcycle stunt teams and parachute display teams.

The event has also raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity.

Wirral Council says it cannot afford to take over the running of the show.

A spokesman said: “It was with great sadness that we learned of the committee’s decision.

“We would like to pay tribute to the hard work and dedication of all those volunteers involved over many years.

“It is simply not possible, at a time of significant financial constraints, for the council to take over the running and funding of the show.”