Sunshine and ‘irresponsible publicity’ draws record crowd

This year's Cinema on the Carrs took place in glorious sunshine on Saturday, 9th June which the organisers say along with "unrequested, irresponsible publicity" attracted record numbers.

The event, which was free to attend and is funded and organised by Wilmslow Town Council, featured a family fun day during the afternoon that included a showing of 'Toy Story', numerous children's activities and what turned out to be a sell-out duck race.

With many families remaining to soak up the atmosphere and make the most of the sunshine and the ongoing entertainment, the audience for the later showing of 'The Greatest Showman' was well established even before the evening crowds started to assemble.

Cllr Angela McPake, Chairman of the Town Council Events Group, said "We will remember this year's event as one which those attending appear in the main to have thoroughly enjoyed, but which presented the organising team with many challenges due to the event's popularity.

"Unrequested, irresponsible publicity well beyond our immediate geographic area by the Manchester Evening News of what is ultimately a local community event, coupled with a good weather forecast brought about concerns of residents and organisers alike that Wilmslow residents may not gain access to the event.

"Ultimately it wasn't necessary to turn anyone away but the experience did highlight the need to look at how Wilmslow residents are prioritised in the future and how a ticketing system could improve the enjoyment of local residents, their friends and family."

She added "The Town Council will now need to consider the Cinema on the Carrs for future years what format this should take. In the meantime we would like to thank all of those who attended and all of the volunteers who made the event possible"

Tags:
Cinema on the Carrs
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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Sophie Taylor
Monday 11th June 2018 at 3:08 pm
I went to the afternoon screening with my family and we had a brilliant time. The event was very well organised and a lovely way to bring the Wilmslow Community together.
We are now looking forward to the Wilmslow Show!
Roger Thawley
Wednesday 13th June 2018 at 2:55 pm
Well, some simple planning, for next year, might include a bulletin to regional, non-local, newspapers to not publicise, on the ground that capacity is limited and it's intended as a local community event.
Angela McPake
Wednesday 13th June 2018 at 4:58 pm
Hi Roger,
The press release only went to Wilmslow publications and said it was an event for locals residents.

When we pointed out it to MEN (who were told about it by a resident, not the organisers) that the event was intended for local residents because of room restrictions, they refused to remove it from their site.

Not sure how we could have managed that element of it differently.
Laurie Atterbury
Thursday 14th June 2018 at 8:50 am
My wife and I are Wilmslow residents and we took a stroll down with our daughter’s little dog. Must admit we were very relieved that we couldn’t get in with the dog because it looked very crowded so we probably wouldn’t have gone in if we had not had the dog anyway. It made us realise what it must be like to be a Northern Rail Passenger.
Amanda Williams
Friday 15th June 2018 at 3:09 pm
I would like to thank Angela and the WTC for all the hard work this must have taken to set up. I've never been before, we just went to see the evening show. I was very proud to be a resident of an area that would take the time to do something like this. A big thank you for all your hard work. I do agree that if we had been turned away due to 'out of town' people attending it would have been very frustrating, so a ticket idea or some way to make sure all residents get offered the chance to attend sounds a good. It was a great event, so thank you.