‘Fyre Festival’ Christmas grotto leaves kids in tears over terrifying Santa with no hands and ‘disastrous’ rides
A CHRISTMAS grotto has been shut down after parents slammed it as a nightmarish winter wonderland gone-wrong.
Children were left in tears by the terrifying festive attractions at the Enchanted event at Balgone Estate in East Lothian, Scotland – including a Santa without any HANDS.
Dubbed the new festive ‘Fyre Festival‘, families promised a Christmas extravaganza were instead faced with a mud-packed site and “disastrous” rides.
Parents took to social media to slate the grotto, and said youngsters were left in tears after being confronted with the chilling sight of a handless Santa mannequin.
And if kids wanted to visit a real life Santa, their fuming parents had to fork out an extra £15 per child.
They also complained about carnival rides which cost extra, were overpriced and deemed too short.
Guests claimed a maze at the site was nothing more than hay bales “barely tall enough to hide a child”, while a disappointing Christmas carnival was held in a “wheat shed”.
And a light trail advertised as an “enchanted journey” turned out to be a “half-lit muddy trail around a lake with half the lights missing”.
Following a barrage of criticism, it has now emerged organisers Enchanted Festivals have pulled the plug on the disastrous event.
One parent, who paid £25 for his family of three to visit, said one of his children had burst into tears at the event.
He said: “It was a drive to a muddy farm field. The ‘carnival’ was a wheat shed. The event was severely understaffed, and mostly by young teenagers with little apparent training.
“My two year old started crying but we have another event planned which we know will be fine.
“We’re very lucky – for other families this must have been their big event and I know some could little afford it.”
When we arrived it was clearly going to be a huge departure from the marketing materials.
Enchanted event guest
Craig Graham said he splashed out £100 on the event with his wife and two daughters – £40 for tickets, and another £60 on food, drinks and rides.
But while some complained that the rides were too short, he said his kids couldn’t wait to get off.
He said: “We went to the train, a staff member starts the train and then walks off out of the barn.
“We think ‘okay, he can’t be away for long.’ Around seven minutes my two daughters were left going round and round on the train. I had to go find another member of staff to stop it.
“Then my oldest daughter went on the bungee ropes and again the staff member in charge of the area disappeared and was gone for 10 minutes.
“When she came back my daughter was just standing there wanting off.”
Sara Julia Campbell, who paid £20 to visit with her husband and 15-month-old, stayed only half an hour before giving up on the event.
She said: “We got there and it was extremely muddy and the paths were grimy. It was almost impossible to take the pram out of the car and it got stuck a lot.
“Everything cost extra money, from the rides to the food, which was okay but expensive. We weren’t sure what we paid for other than parking.”
One visitor, commenting on Facebook, dubbed the event the “Fyre Festival of East Lothian”.
‘DISAPPOINTED’
A statement released by Enchanted Festivals said: “We are sad to announce the cancellation of Enchanted Balgone following disappointing feedback from some visitors.
“Our vision was to create a family-friendly Christmas experience in a stunning rural setting and while much of the event was wonderful, there were some shortfalls that we do not feel confident that we can address before the event this weekend.
“We would like to thank those who have attended and apologise to customers who will be disappointed by the cancellation, please be assured it was a difficult decision.
“Refunds will be issued automatically. Have a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones.”
However, Sue Hitchen, director of Edinburgh-based Foodies Festivals, said that it had received positive comments from some visitors.
She noted some who “thoroughly enjoyed” their visit “and recommended it to other people”, and another who described “a lovely Christmas experience”.
She continued: “We are obviously very concerned about anyone who feels that our event was disappointing.
“We have planned this for several months with Balgone Estate as well as other partners such as local food suppliers, and have some very positive feedback from many of our visitors.”
Following news of the closure, the Balgone estate, which had no part in organising the event, expressed regret the event had failed to match expectations.
Alex Humphreys said “We, as an estate, are not responsible for the health and safety and coordination of this event.
“The organisation has been conducted by Enchanted Festivals, a subsidiary of Foodies Festivals. The estate is simply the host space for the event managed by said third party.
“We understand the disappointment shown by members of the public and have tried our best to reply in an appropriate manner by making sure customers know we don’t hold the responsibility of the event, we are simply just the host space for an event.
“We share the disappointment as we can see the event didn’t live up to expectations.”
