The Isle of Wight Steam Railway has taken the decision to cancel this year’s Island Steam Show.
The annual event had been scheduled to take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend, as has been the tradition for almost 50 years.
Around 10,000 visitors normally pass through the gates over the 4 days of the Steam Show, which is always a highlight of the events calendar for the heritage railway at Havenstreet.
There will be no tooting of traction engine whistles or tunes from the grand carousel this year – but the show will return in 2021.
In a statement issued this morning (Monday) organisers have said:
“We tried hard to find a way of making this year’s event happen, leaving the decision as late as possible to see if the situation improved. We had hoped that a scaled-back show might be possible; however, even this presented significant extra challenges. Ultimately we felt that we couldn’t operate the event in a socially distant way, that would keep our visitors and volunteers safe.
“We recognise that cancelling this year’s event will be very disappointing to our many visitors who have supported the Steam Show over the last 45 years.
“Please be assured that our Steam Show will return in 2021. This is significant year for the Railway when we will celebrate our 50th anniversary. We look forward to welcoming our exhibitors and vsitors back for our 46th show next year”.
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How about if everyone that was going to visit the steam show this year donate the ticket price or even half of it To the railway we all need to keep supporting this wonderful charity and help keep the railway running for years to come