Wisbech Rose Fair parade is off for fourth year – but there will still be host events to mark the 60th anniversary

Lack of time has meant organisers of this year’s Wisbech Rose Fair have been forced to cancel plans for a parade in what is the event’s 60th anniversary..

It’s the fourth year in a row that there will be not be a parade for the town’s premiere festival (covid knocked out two years, and a fire on the Market Place stopped last year’s) – but there are high hopes all will be well next year.

Orginally the Round Table, who is the main organiser of the parade, had hoped to have the traditional lorry procession but the scaffolding that continues to shroud the former slot machine premises on the Market Place put paid to that.

The We Love Wisbech Partnership’s Rose Fair Committee, which is made up of a host of organisations including the the Ferry Project, CP Learning Trust, the Oasis community Centre, Clarion Futures, Blackfield Creatives, the NHS, Cambridgeshire Libraries, Cambridgeshire county council, Fenland District Council and Wisbech Town Council, had then suggested the possibility of a walking parade.

The Round Table were happy to look at organising that instead of one involving floats, but they soon discovered there was a mountain of paperwork needed including a health and safety risk assessment, which was necessary because there has not been a walking parade in the town before.

With the date for the Rose Fair drawing ever closer it was decided there was not enough time to get all the necessary documentation in place, so once again the parade has had to fall by the wayside.

However, Keith Smith, from the Ferry Project, who is one of the leading lights of We Love Wisbech, said there is still up to a dozen events going on over the two weeks that was planned for the Rose Fair and he is encouraging people to get behind those.

These will include the chance to climb St Peter’s Church Tower, a summer fair at the Queen Mary Centre, which will be similar to the one that used to be organised by the church as part of the Rose Fair flower festival; live musice and cultural events; and Wisbech Museum is hosting an exhibition of the 60 years of Rsoe Fair.

The events are being held at different venues across the fortnight which runs from July 1 to 15 and a full itinerary will be available shortly on a new website.

Keith said: “We had hoped to reinvigorate the Rose Fair, which was previously centred around the flower festival in St Peter’s Church, but the church has since decided to not carry on with the festival for a variety of reasons, including a lack of volunteers.

“We know the parade, which was organised separately by the Round Table, was an integral part of the festival which is why we were so keen to have one this year. But unfortunately time has been against us. It is nobody’s fault, it is just one of those things.

“However, we will be carrying out a survey asking people what the Rose Fair means to them and what they would like to see in the future at all the events that will be held over the two weeks. We will use the information gathered to bring a new-look Rose Fair to Wisbech next year.

“We will be starting our planning in August to ensure we have plenty of time and that means we should be able to hold a parade next year, but what shape it will take is not yet known. The events that are being held from July 1 to 15 are being held by different organisations and have come under the Rose Fair umbrella, but We Love Wisbech has not had anything to do with organising them. We are simply happy to promote them and encourage people to go along and I would encourage people to check out our new website once it is up and running for more details.

“We know people will be disappointed to hear about the parade, but we promise to create a new, reinvigorated Rose Fair next year that is designed around the feedback we have from people, so hopefully everyone will be happy with what we deliver.”