Boldmere Futures says the town council “weren’t offered a penny” to cover a shortfall of about £10,000. The council’s stated reason was that the festival “was not financially sustainable”.
The Boldmere Christmas Festival, held along the high street in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, has been cancelled for a second year running. The organisers, Boldmere Futures CIC, say Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council voted to refuse the funding needed to cover the deficit. The event reportedly costs about £24,000 to stage, covering road closures, insurance, security and first aid. Income from rides, markets and street food vendors brings in only about £14,000, leaving a gap of roughly £10,000.
The organisers’ complaint
The market is not formally ticketed, but visitors can pay an entrance fee at their own discretion, and all of that money goes towards running costs. In a Facebook post, the organisers said they “weren’t offered a penny” by the council and that the reason given was that “the festival was not financially sustainable”.
Paul Long, chairman of the not-for-profit group, has accused the council of cancelling the “largest cultural event in Sutton Coldfield”. He claims it holds about £6m in reserves. The council has not been quoted in the material supplied. Reserves may be earmarked for specific purposes, so they cannot necessarily be treated as money available for the festival. The council’s published budget shows a 2026-27 precept of £2.63m and a Band D charge of £69.96 a year, but does not show how much uncommitted money was available when the application was assessed.
A history of falling grants
According to council and local records cited in the research notes, the grant fell from £10,000 in 2023 to £7,000 in 2024 and £3,000 in 2025. Boldmere Futures declined the 2025 award, saying the festival needed £10,000 in external support to go ahead. For 2026, the organisers say no funding was offered. In 2024, the property developer McCarthy Stone gave £3,000 in sponsorship to make up the gap left by the lower grant.
Minutes of the council’s September 2025 Amenities, Leisure and Community Services Committee record a disagreement. The organisers suggested councillors had not received complete information. The council’s chief executive said all supporting documents supplied by Boldmere Futures had been shared with councillors before the decision. The minutes also note confusion over how donations collected at festival entrances were meant to be used.
The council’s grant documentation identified around 5,000 visitors at earlier festivals. On the organisers’ £24,000 budget, that is roughly £4.80 of event cost per visitor, though it does not show how much visitors spent with local businesses.
What happens next
Boldmere Futures says it is exploring an alternative summer event in Sutton Park in 2027, and a permanent artisan market in Boldmere. Both are at the planning stage, with no dates. A letter to local businesses in 2025 floated other ways to cut dependence on the grant, including £50 contributions from businesses that would not open on festival day, sponsorship packages from £500 to £6,000, a Boldmere Business Association, and moving events into Sutton Park to reduce road-closure costs.
The cancellation does not mean Sutton Coldfield has no Christmas market. A separate one is advertised by Visit Royal Sutton Coldfield BID for 11 to 13 December on The Parade, with trading hours of 10am to 7pm on Friday and Saturday and 10am to 5pm on Sunday. The town council funds festive lights separately, though there is no confirmation of a 2026 switch-on in Boldmere.
