Bonfire night displays and events have been cancelled across Manchester for the second year in a row due to Covid-19 fears.
There were eight bonfire displays due to go ahead this year in the city’s parks which regularly attract more than 100,000 people.
The events were planned for Heaton Park, Platt Fields Park, Wythenshawe Park, Crumpsall Park, the Eithad Campus, Cringle Park, Debdale Park and Brookdale Park.
Manchester City Council said the events would be impossible to manage and the guidance around Covid-19 safety has made the events unworkable.
It would require a big increase in infrastructure and security that it not workable at the moment.
It is recommended that people attending large scale events should prove their vaccination status although this is not currently a legal requirement.
Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar, executive member for neighbourhoods, said: “This is not a decision we have taken lightly and I know that many people who look forward to these events will be disappointed.
“But the health of Manchester people, and the logistical considerations around that, has to come first.”
Greater Manchester Police Chief, Chief Constable Stephen Watson said he would ban fireworks if ‘given half the chance’. He stressed that it is only a matter of time before someone gets killed.
“This goes a long way away from kids knocking around a bonfire and letting off a few fireworks and having fun. It’s that of course that we want to preserve. This is something we’re very much alive to.”
Other major cities that have cancelled upcoming fireworks events include Leeds, Nottingham and London.
