Newnham June Event cancelled – but NOT due to COVID-19

Newnham June Event has been cancelled, but as a result of low ticket sales rather than over fears of spreading COVID-19.

Harriet King, Newnham June Event President 2020, posted in a statement on Facebook: “I regret to inform that our event this year will be cancelled due to a lack of ticket sales. The committee are saddened by this but realised we would not be able to host an event that we would be happy with or you would deserve based on the budget projected by these ticket sales. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to welcoming you to our garden party next year.

“Just to reiterate, this is not all related to the current COVID-19 outbreak and is fully due to the issue of ticket sales. For other May Week events’ response to COVID-19, please refer to the statement released by the May Ball Presidents Committee.

“We are currently in contact with our ticket provider FIXR and full refunds (including booking fee) will be issued in the coming weeks. We are not aware of precise dates right now, but we will send a follow up email with more details in the next week.
Yet again, I am so sorry that this has happened. We really appreciate and are grateful for all your support for our event.”

In a recent statement over the potential cancellations of May Balls due to the ongoing pandemic, the May Ball Presidents’ Committee also reiterated that “the recent cancellation of Newnham June Event is not related to the outbreak”.

A spokesperson for the event told The Tab Cambridge that the low ticket sales could be down to a “number of reasons”, a “definite factor” being that the event was “scheduled by [Newnham] college to be on the same night as two other June events and two popular May Balls”, leading to a thinly spread “customer base”.

The event, whose theme was “A Trip Down the Cam” was scheduled to take place on the 16th of June, coinciding with the dates of both Christ’s and St John’s May balls. The event was also cancelled in 2018 due to poor ticket sales.