The organisers of a festive Grinch Christmas event, costing £20 per child, have hit out a trolls who subjected them to “severe trolling and bullying” after the event was cancelled.
The Balfour Arms, a pub in Sidmouth, Devon, was transformed into the fictional town Whoville – the location of the internationally-beloved film The Grinch Who Stole Christmas – for the festive season this year, reports Devon Live.
A host of activities and gifts were advertised to take place between the scheduled December 21 to 23 event, including fairground rides, face painting, a buffet, and meet and greets with the Grinch, Mrs Claus, Cindy Lou and elves.
The tickets also included a visit to Santa’s grotto, bouncy castle, gifts, a barbecue, a ball pit, an activity table, a hot chocolate and live music.
After running for just one day on December 21, the event was cancelled with organisers citing Met Office weather warnings and ‘circumstances’ for their decision.
Some parents, whose children had been due to attend, complained on the pub’s Facebook about the move creating “a lot of very unhappy people and children”.
However, others who had already attended the event, complained that it was not what they were expecting. One parent said: “We arrived at 1pm and left by 2pm. What a total underwhelming experience.
“You were promised to step into the magical Whoville, but instead we were greeted with deflated balloons and a totally disorganised event. Two very disappointed children.”
Another said: “I was chatting to other parents there yesterday [December 21] and their kids were in tears and had to leave like us.”
The Balfour Arms hit back at the negative commenters in a follow-up post in which it said it had “received some severe trolling and bullying” over the preceding 24 hours.
It said: “Unfortunately, due to the weather conditions and circumstances, our Whoville event today and for tomorrow is so sadly cancelled. We have put an awful lot of hard work into making this event special as we can and we are absolutely heartbroken to have to do this.
“We have received some severe trolling and bullying in the last 24 hours as well. Somethings have been said that should never be said to anyone. We can only apologise again but cannot control the weather as much as we wish we could. If you are due to attend, please pop us a message with your details so we can arrange your refund again. We are ever so sorry.”
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