Popular Christmas market in Sheffield cancelled due to coronavirus

A popular Christmas market in Sheffield has been cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis.
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Kelham Island Museum’s Victorian Christmas Market, where visitors can wind back the clock to enjoy a traditional Dickensian winter, has become a much-loved addition to the city’s social calendar over the years.

But the museum announced this week that the event would not take place this Christmas due to uncertainty about what restrictions might be brought in to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Kelham Island Museum's Victorian Christmas Market will not take place this yearKelham Island Museum's Victorian Christmas Market will not take place this year
Kelham Island Museum's Victorian Christmas Market will not take place this year
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“Unfortunately, with great regret and after much consideration, we have taken the very difficult decision to cancel the Victorian Christmas Market this year,” it said

"In these unprecedented times, we have no way of knowing what the government restrictions will be in December regarding public events and social distancing.

"Therefore we do not feel we can safely run the event this year or guarantee the high footfall that we and our stallholders rely on to make the weekend a success.

It added that as a charitable trust the market is an important event for the museum and the decision had not been an easy one to make.

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The announcement came as the UK’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance warned there could be 50,000 coronavirus cases per day next month if the rate of the disease’s spread is not brought down, while a top professor from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said that the ‘next six months are going to be very difficult’.

Kelham Island Museum reopened in August following the lockdown, with new measures in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and with new opening times and reduced ticket prices.