Now another Christmas carol concert is silenced after 70 years over health and safety fears amid concerns too many people could attend

• The carol singing service in Rose Square, Canterbury may not go ahead  
• Has been running since 1952 and is attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury
• Columbia Road Christmas Wednesdays, in Bethnal Green, also cancelled 

Another major open air carol service that has been running for more than 70 years faces the axe over health and safety fears.

Organisers of the Christmas Eve carol singing service in Rose Square, Canterbury, are considering pulling the plug on the popular event after concerns were raised by charity volunteers about the number of people attending. 

It comes less than 24 hours after a trendy East London Christmas market was forced to cancel its famous carol tradition for the rest of the year due to huge overcrowding after seeing it on TikTok. 

Fears over the limited number of volunteers available to manage the thousands in attendance, which traditionally includes the Archbishop of Canterbury, has led to talk of the event in the Kent city being cancelled for the first time since 1952.

Confusion over its future has arisen after the Lord Mayor of Canterbury’s Christmas Gift Fund, which has long organised the service, posted on social media that it had been called off.

Organisers of the Christmas Eve carol singing service in Rose Square, Canterbury, are considering pulling the plug on the popular event after concerns were raised by charity volunteers about the number of people attending

The Archbishop of Canterbury is one of the thousands in attendance for the Christmas Eve carol service 

The charity said: ‘We are very sad to advise you that the Community Carol Singing on Christmas Eve (December 24) in Rose Square, Canterbury will not take place this year.

‘We are a small committee of volunteers and the requirements to ensure that the event goes ahead safely is beyond what we can do.

‘Whilst it is very disappointing we have nevertheless continued to distribute gifts for those in need and have spent over £13,000 this Christmas season to ensure that many of our neighbours will have received help from The Lord Mayor of Canterbury’s Christmas Gift Fund.’

The singalong event is incredibly popular with locals, being referred to as the ‘highlight’ of their Christmas season.

The Christmas Eve carols were unable to go ahead in both 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, but the event was replaced with an online alternative.

The announcement of the cancellation caused sadness among the many long-term attendees, one of whom said: ‘I have attended this event since childhood, so for 70 years, and it’s the start of Christmas for me.

‘I’m gutted but so pleased that the charity is still able to continue.’

Another regular attendee shared their sadness at the potential demise of the decades-long tradition, saying: ‘That is such a blow.

‘As a family we have supported it since the very beginning.’

However, the Lord Mayor of Canterbury herself, Jean Butcher, said that not all hope was lost for the popular event.

She revealed that the council is in talks with the Lord Mayor of Canterbury’s Christmas Gift Fund and Whitefriars, with the goal of preserving it.

The Christmas Eve carols were unable to go ahead in both 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, but the event was replaced with an online alternative

Visitors posted videos of the hoards of people, saying it was a ‘disaster waiting to happen’

Canterbury City Council leader Alan Baldock added: ‘We’re very anxious that it does go ahead. We’re pulling out all the stops and at the moment we’re optimistic.

‘We understand just how important this carol service is to the people of Canterbury.’

The Lord Mayor of Canterbury’s Christmas Gift Fund and Canterbury City Council have been contacted for further information.

Whitefriars declined to comment on the potential cancellation of the event. 

This is not the first Christmas carol event in the UK to be effected by health and safety concerns. 

Up to 7,000 people turned up to the last event at Columbia Road Christmas Wednesdays, in Bethnal Green, with organisers saying they have now axed the event over fears for public safety.

Footage uploaded to TikTok of last week’s event show massive crowds enjoying the festive singalong, which saw the local vicar wheeling a piano down the street to accompany carolers.

Some who attended said they were ‘packed in like sardines’ and feared it was a ‘disaster waiting to happen’, while locals blamed the ‘dangerous’ overcrowding on the event being advertised on social media.

Columbia Road has long been a tourist hotspot in the capital, with its flower market held every Sunday seeing a rise in visitors year-round – in part thanks to being promoted by social media influencers.

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