‘Unsustainable deficit’ means no Strawberry Fair in Cambridge in 2025

The Strawberry Fair organising committee has announced that the Fair - a huge date in the Cambridge calendar - will not go ahead in 2025.

The organisers say that costs have risen and not been matched by an increase in deficit, “leaving the Fair running an unsustainable deficit”.

Ian Ralls, the head of environment for Strawberry Fair, told the Cambridge Independent: “In our 51st year we’ve reached the point where we may not be able to carry on due to massive increases in the costs of putting on the event - for instance £14,000 for clearing up afterwards, including litter picking etc, and £35,000 for security, plus reduced income from the traders, especially since Covid, who traditionally provide the majority of our income via pitch fees.”

Strawberry Fair was started 50years ago as an independent, volunteer-run and free-to-attend festival, and the Fair has remained true to those roots ever since. No one on the committee is paid, and it is part of the Fair’s ethos that no one should have to pay to come to the event.

For those 50 years the Fair has largely funded itself through the pitch fees paid by the bars and traders who come to the Fair, supplemented by fund-raising throughout the year and by individual donations from the public.

In recent years Cambridge City Council has also included Strawberry Fair among the recipients of community and cultural grants, which has massively helped the Fair to keep going despite rising costs.

However since the pandemic prices have risen faster than these income streams. This is a problem being faced by many events across the UK, with many ticketed festivals being forced to cancel in the past two years, and numerous festival traders going bankrupt.

Committee Chair Liz Nathan explained: “The costs of running the Fair have doubled over the past ten years, and over half of that increase has happened since 2021. Every year the volunteers on the committee work hard to raise the money required, but last year was the most difficult I have known in over a decade of helping to run the event.

“We cannot keep continually increasing the fees that we charge our traders and bars for attending the Fair, because they are also facing increasing costs and there is a limit to how much they can afford to pay.

“The Strawberry Fair committee is examining various means to raise additional funds so that the Fair can continue in 2026, but would also welcome new ideas from the Cambridge community: Together we can ensure that the Fair is put on a firm financial footing for the next 50 years.”

If you have an idea to help the Fair, or would like to get involved, email chair@strawberry-fair.org.uk.

“It means so much to so many people that it really can’t just end,” concluded Ian.