Key information
Request reference number: MGLA160924-1044
Date of response:
Summary of request
You requested:
This is an information request relating to public events or festivals that have been organised by the council but were cancelled. Please provide the following information for the last five financial years, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2021/22, 202/23, 2023/24
- The name and date of each event or festival that was cancelled.
- The total expenditure on each cancelled event, including:
- Costs associated with planning and organisation.
- Marketing and advertising costs.
- Deposits paid for venues, equipment, or other services.
- Any additional information on whether the council was able to recoup any of the expenditure from deposits or other payments made.
Our response:
I can confirm that the GLA holds information within the scope of your request.
The GLA’s response relates to our main programme of events held at Trafalgar Square but does not include smaller GLA events or cancellations of bookings for use of Trafalgar Square by other organisations.
As the UK responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, several of the GLA’s upcoming events were cancelled in line with government restrictions. Where events were in advance stages of planning and resources committed, cancellation costs were incurred. These costs depended on how close the cancellation was to the event delivery date. Many other annual events during 2020 and 2021 did not take place due to that pandemic, however, these events were not confirmed, rather than them being cancelled, and therefore did not incur cancellation costs.
The following events were cancelled, and the associated costs incurred are as follows:
- St Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival 2020 - £174,321
- Vaisakhi on The Square 2020 – £20,022
- St Georges 2020 - £20,085
- Eid 2020 – £6,186
- NYE Trafalgar Square 2021 - £498,460