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Great Dorset Steam Fair will take a year's break due to rising costs

Getty Images steam engines at the siteGetty Images
Tens of thousands attended this year but the directors say costs haven risen "disproportionately"

Organisers of the Great Dorset Steam Fair have said it will take a year's break due to rising costs.

In August, tens of thousands of people attended the annual show at Tarrant Hinton, near Blandford Forum.

But organisers have now announced "the ongoing economic situation" would make it "financially challenging for us to run the event in 2023".

The event, which celebrates industrial and agricultural heritage, will return August Bank Holiday weekend in 2024.

GDSF man near a steam engineGDSF
The show celebrates industrial and agricultural heritage and is usually held every year

Its board of directors announced the news on social media and said: "Whilst the 2022 event has been a fantastic and resounding success as a spectacle, it has been mired by significant and spiralling increases."

"As a big show we have big costs, costs which have risen disproportionately this year and, crucially, are very difficult to forecast for next year in the current economic climate."

The directors also said the pandemic, the aftermath of Brexit and the war in Ukraine had affected the event industry and there have been price rises in staff, contactor, fuel, transport, material and equipment hire.

"It is not prudent or sensible to hold the show next year and in order to safeguard and preserve the future of the Great Dorset Steam Fair, we believe this to be the right decision to enable us to continue to run a high-quality event in 2024 and beyond," they added.

Getty Images steam engineGetty Images
The fair is held on a 600-acre showground

Social media users shared their disappointment at the news, but also also said the event still had their support.

One user said: "Totally understand the predicament rising costs have put us all into and I believe that a bi-annual event may be the way forward in future."

Another wrote: "So sad this is being inflicted on the GDSF. As a organiser of a rally i fully sympathise and understand the hard decision taken and the reasons behind it. There will be more following suit soon."

GDSF people at the eventGDSF
Tens of thousands of people have attended this year's show, according to organisers

This year's fair had returned for its 54th year after it was cancelled two years in a row.

The event was cancelled in 2020 for the first time in its history due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Last year organisers said it was "unfeasible" to run the show in 2021 due to uncertainty at the time about Covid-19 restrictions.

It was subsequently given a grant of £156,000 from the government's Culture Recovery Fund to help the organisation recover from the impact of the pandemic.

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