Unfortunately the annual Alexandra Palace fireworks display, which traditionally draws crowds of up to 90,000 people, will not be taking place in 2020.

Louise Stewart, Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust chief executive: “Our Fireworks Festival brings people together like no other Ally Pally event. It has transformed in recent years, to provide a full-on festival feel across two celebratory nights, with music, comedy, theatre, family entertainment and of course the display itself. To say we’re disappointed not to be able go ahead this year is a massive understatement.

“Welcoming 90,000 people to the site just can’t happen at the moment. We looked at alternative ways we might be able to host the fireworks, as we have managed to do so successfully with other events over the past few months. Unfortunately, none of these options is financially viable.

“It’s not an easy decision to make. Holding events like the Fireworks Festival, that provide great, enriching experiences, is what we are here to do. It’s also a serious financial blow for the charity. Events are our life blood, without them and the vital income they provide our future is uncertain. It will also be a blow to local businesses that benefit from the event and the hundreds of people in the sector that it provides work opportunities for.

“Everyone has been impacted by covid-19. The Park and Palace are no different. Since March we have innovated and adapted to continue to bring people entertainment, creative learning experiences and generate what income we can. We’ve hosted Europe’s first-ever drive-in opera in our car park; safely welcomed 17,000 people to our Terrace, one of the largest beer gardens in London; soon we begin Live at Ally Pally, a season of socially-distanced comedy, music and entertainment inside the Palace. All that, plus we’ve taken our creative learning programme online, welcomed charities into our kitchens to make food parcels for vulnerable people in the community, seen record numbers use the Park and this week reopened our ice rink. The creative spirit of Alexandra Palace means keeping on going, and we will, but no Fireworks Festival will hurt us like nothing else so far.

“Thank you to everybody who has helped make the Fireworks Festival the spectacle it has become in recent years. I am sure it will be back in the future. And thank you to all who continue to support the Park and Palace by visiting, buying a ticket to an event, donating and volunteering. Ally Pally wouldn’t be what it is, now or in the future, without this support.”

Anyone wishing to support Alexandra Park and Palace can do so here