Bonfire Night events run by Manchester council axed for 2022 amid concerns about cost

Manchester City Council has announced that council-organised Bonfire Night events will not be reintroduced in city parks this year amid concerns about the costs of staging big events.

The city council normally runs popular events for 5 November at the likes of Heaton Park, Platt Fields Park, and Wythenshawe Park, but they had been put on ice the last two years during the Covid pandemic, when there were restrictions on large numbers of people mixing.

However, the council revealed today that its bonfires will not be making a return in 2022 either, blaming the cost of running big events and pressure on council budgets, along with ‘increasing safety and organisational measures needed’.

The council says it will assess the impact of this year’s events not going ahead as part of a review into the approach to future bonfire events - and says its priority for neighbourhood spending for now is putting on free events for families and kids including over October half-term.

Coun Lee Ann Igbon, executive member for Vibrant Neighbourhoods, said: “It is with great reluctance that we’re announcing that council-organised bonfire events will not be taking place this year. Manchester is one of the only major cities that continues to host council-organised firework and bonfire events.

“Bonfire events haven’t taken place in the city since 2019 and we have decided to hold that position this year.

“This is not a decision we have taken lightly and I know that many people will be disappointed. Nevertheless, due to a combination of factors such as rising costs, pressure on our budgets and, our ambition to be a net zero carbon city by 2038 we will not have council-organised bonfire events this year.

“The cost of delivering the event has escalated every year and to host large bonfire events we would have to plug the shortfall by diverting parks funding away from essential park services.

“Our neighbourhood teams have been working tirelessly to re-prioritise the budget on community events and supporting our residents through the cost-of-living crisis.

“As usual, we will be working with partner agencies to help promote safety messages and prevent anti-social behaviour.”

• However a number of community organisations in Greater Manchester are running their own events and you can find our full guide to them here.