Inside Cumbria’s ‘winter wonderland’ where the ice rink flooded and Santa was sacked for SMOKING
A SANTA was sacked for smoking and an ice rink was flooded in a Christmas “winter wonderland” that disappointed families have slammed as “disgraceful”.
Visitors even said their children had more fun walking home than at the festival itself.
The Hawcoat Park Sports and Social Club in Cumbria promised a German market, funfair rides, an ice rink, festive food and a visit from Father Christmas.
The organisers blamed the rain for some of the problems, admitting the conditions meant not all the attractions were ready. But families inundated social media with complaints, saying it was a total failure.
Amy Smith commented on Facebook saying: “Absolutely disgraceful! The weather had nothing to do with the lack of wonderland. I didn’t see a single bit of Christmas. No lights, trees decorations nothing!
“My children found the walk home more fun! Santa was enough to scare adults let alone children.”
One of the club directors, Jack Charnley, admitted Father Christmas had been caught smoking.
He said: “We got a new Santa straight away. As soon as we knew about it, it was nipped in the bud. It was completely unacceptable.”
HOW TO GET A REFUND FOR TICKETS
If you bought a ticket for Winter Wonderland at the Hawcoat Park Sports and Social Club and were disappointed then you should first try and get a refund from the organisers.
The website hawcoatparkevents.yapsody.com no longer lists the event, so you can try contacting them directly to ask about getting your money back.
If this doesn’t work then all is not lost. If you paid by debit card then you can try and contact your bank to request a refund via Chargeback.
If you paid by credit card then it’s a little bit trickier. You’ll need to have spend more than £100 (and less than £30,000) to request a refund from your card issuer.
There were issues with the ice rink when it became flooded and had to temporarily close, while visitors hoping to browse stalls at the advertised German market were unable to do so, because it never materialised.
Paul Jacko took to Facebook to show the image of a snow covered festive fairground used in promotional material, next to actual pictures from the weekend, adding: “Says it all.”
Kerry Lawson said: “Shocking is the only word to describe it. People should be given a refund. Certainly not what was advertised.
“They blamed the weather for things not showing up, but where were the Christmas lights and festive music? There was no wonderland to be seen!
“People were queuing for over one-and-a-half hours to see Santa in an inflatable grotto. It’s a disgrace!”
Gail Bundy said of the Cumbria event: “It was not what was advertised by any means and it then became very overpriced for what we paid. However, we went along today and could see how keen everyone was to make it work.
“I think a lot of paying customers stayed away today as there was not a lot of people there. Lessons learnt for next year?”
Others said the tickets, priced at £10 per adult, £5 per child or £25 for a family pass, were meant to be a treat for their families.
But not everyone was disappinted.
Mum Abbigail Cooper said: “We loved it. Seeing your child happy is the only thing that counts regardless of the price.”
Others pointed out the community club had organised a number of successful events in the past.
Following the disappointing start on Friday, the organisers hoped to recompense customers by offering free drinks and entry onto rides.
One of the directors, Dave Coverdale, said: “It’s about giving something back to the community. That’s what this club is all about.
“We just wanted to run an event that hadn’t been done in Barrow before and we feel that both Saturday and Sunday have been successful.”
In a statement on Facebook, the organisers said that the “horrendous weather” had meant some of the advertised attractions were not able to be set up.
They said: “The onsite team have worked tirelessly to try and deliver as much of the programme as possible however, due to the conditions we are aware that all of the attractions were not ready when we opened today.
“As a result of the issues highlighted Friday ticket holders can choose to attend either Saturday or Sunday as an alternative.”
They confirmed that the majority of the program, including live shows, was now running.
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