Santa’s Grotto axed as children in tears and parents complain it’s not worth £20

A Grinch event selling tickets for £20 per person has been forced to close after staff working at the pub holding the event were subjected to “severe trolling and bullying.”

The Balfour Arms, a pub in Sidmouth, Devon was transformed into Whoville in honour of the hit Christmas film starring Jim Carrey following a successful Harry Potter themed event earlier in the year.

But the event was far from a success and had to be closed after just one day following mixed reviews with those booked for the following days contacted and offered refunds.

The Whoville Christmas experience was set to run from 21-23 December with a £20 ticket guaranteeing a fairground ride, face painting, buffet, a meet and greet with the Grinch, Mrs Claus, Cindy Lou and elves, Santa’s grotto, bouncy castle, gifts, barbecue, ball pit, activity table, hot chocolate and live music.

The event went ahead on Saturday 21 December but was cancelled yesterday and today at late notice due to weather conditions and ‘circumstances’.

The move sparked a wave of anger and negative comments posted to the pub’s Facebook page, with criticisms including that the move left “a lot of very unhappy people and children”, some of whom had travelled from Plymouth, Dawlish and Torquay to experience the event.

According to Devon Live, negative comments from those who attended or were due to visit were deleted from the pub’s Facebook page with only positive comments remaining.

Criticisms included feeling ‘underwhelmed’ and ‘disappointed’ by the experience claiming that they did not get what had been advertised with others saying the event was overcrowded and not worth the money they paid.

A Torquay mum who visited on Saturday told DevonLive: “It really wasn’t what was advertised. We were expecting a really amazing day and were so looking forward to it.

“There were a lot of very unhappy people and children. People were traveling from Plymouth, Dawlish and we travelled from Torquay.

“I was chatting to other parents there yesterday [December 21] and their kids were in tears and had to leave like us.”

Another comment 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.”

But not everyone left the event feeling disappointed, one father said: “I just want to extend my thanks and joy for what you guys achieved today. Fantastic theme, fantastic layout, fantastic engagement.

“Brought my youngest child and he, and us adults, had the best day. Thank you! This was our first visit to the pub and as a result we will be back.”

His partner added: “It’s the middle of winter in England; what do you expect other than rain and wind. That can’t be helped.

“The Grinch was fantastic; so engaging with all the kids and exactly what we hoped for! Thank you to all the staff who helped to make it such a magical day for the little ones.”

The manager of the pub has said that following the backlash, they will not be holding a similar event next year, instead focussing on a free event for children.

The manager said: “It is just such a shame as we put so much work into everything the last few months. It has been an awful experience.

“We do a lot for the local community and host charity events. We organise free events every Christmas and Halloween. In April we had a princess ball which was attended by 100 children a day and it was a great success, as was our big Harry Potter themed event in September.