Great Dorset Steam Fair 2024 scrapped over rising costs

Tens of thousands attended this year but the directors say costs haven risen "disproportionately"

The Great Dorset Steam Fair will not be held in 2024 due to rising costs, organisers have confirmed.

Tens of thousands of people usually attend the show celebrating industrial and agricultural heritage at Tarrant Hinton, near Blandford Forum.

This year's event was cancelled but organisers had hoped to bring it back in August next year.

However, in a statement they said "eye-watering operating costs" meant it was not financially viable.

The event was cancelled in 2020 for the first time in its history, and again in 2021, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It returned in 2022 but 2023's event was cancelled with "the ongoing economic situation" blamed.

The fair was held on a 600-acre showground

In a statement, organiser Martin Oliver said the festival was in a "desperately sad situation".

"The country is still gripped in the cost-of-living crisis and we do not believe that we can risk imposing a significant increase in ticket and camping prices without drastically reducing attendance at the event," he said.

"So, a perfect storm situation exists."

The cost of the 2022 fair had "rocketed" by £700,000 from £3.5m on the last event held before the pandemic in 2019, and the costs of staging another would be almost £5m, he said.

Mr Oliver said soaring costs were compounded by "additional regulatory and compliance requirements".

He also confirmed the business had recently been put up for sale in the hope of finding an alternative operator.

The fair, founded by Mr Oliver's father, began in 1969 and grew in popularity, attracting hundreds of vintage steam engines and crowds of up to 200,000 people to the three-day events.