ENTRY to one of the city’s most popular festivals will no longer be free as the council moves ahead with plans to introduce a £2 charge.

Worcester City Council will be pushing on with plans to introduce an entry fee for the family-friendly and currently free Worcester Show as one way of helping with its worrying budget issues.

The charge would be issued to all adults with under-16s still allowed to enter for free.

The council looks to have put its foot down on spending and has turned to some of its popular but nevertheless heavily-subsidised events to try and save money. 

While every department budget will be scanned in the next 12 months for any spare money, time is running out on a decision for this year’s show with ten weeks to go until the big weekend.

The event, which is held every August at the city’s Pitchcroft Racecourse, regularly attracts 10,000 visitors and includes everything from market stalls to flower and vegetable competitions, live music and performances, dog shows and sports.

Last year’s event was run at a nearly £12,00 loss with the city council underwriting the shortfall but the council is expecting a bumper weekend and with the new fee, is expecting income to double and despite rising costs, come out with a modest £9,000 surplus.

The council said it was unable to measure the ‘wider’ benefit of the Worcester Show to the city’s economy but did have figures that showed an extra £4,000 was made from car parking on the same weekend.

The report also notes the other options available to the council including handing over the running of the show to a third-party, which the council seems reluctant to do as it would, despite cutting costs, lose the council its overall control.

The show could save the council around £11,000 a year if it was scrapped altogether, according to the report, which is not completely ruled out if attendances plummet because showgoers are put off by the introduction of an entrance fee.

Nevertheless, the council is expecting the £2 fee to cause “minimal” damage.

The city council expects the gap in its budget to grow to nearly £4m in the next five years and bosses warn they are now reaching the point where there will not be enough in the reserves to continue plugging holes.

The council’s place and economic development committee meets in the Guildhall on June 5.