This year's firework display at Alexandra Palace in North London has been cancelled due to increasing costs and the harsh economic climate.

The annual display, which normally attracts up to 70,000 spectators,  last year cost the Charity which runs 'Ally Pally' £63,000, even with  voluntary donations given by members of the public attending the  display. Costs in staging the event were set to rise further in 2010 and the Charity's Trustees therefore reluctantly decided they could not justify spending its limited funds on the event. The money saved will instead be spent on urgent repairs to the palace building.

"Faced with even higher stewarding and traffic/crowd control costs for the 2010 event and against a climate of impending public sector cuts, we reluctantly felt we couldn’t risk what might potentially be an even  bigger shortfall this year. It was a real struggle to come to this  decision, especially as it is a really well supported event with a great atmosphere enjoyed by thousands every year. However, the money we save  will be used for urgent repairs to the fabric of the building –  something which must take priority in today’s economic climate," said Cllr Pat Egan, Chair of the Alexandra Park & Palace Board of  Trustees.

Alexandra Palace is hoping to find alternative sources of funding so that it can bring back a fireworks display in 2011.

This article was originally published on Harringay Online -  thanks to High for permission to re-post here