Thursday's Festival of Light cancelled due to Storm Babet

Organisers at Sunderland City Council will also be keeping the weather forecast under review over the next two days before taking a decision on whether the event will go ahead as planned on Friday and Saturday. Ticket holders will be notified directly by See Tickets of any changes. 

The decision follows warnings from the Met Office that a spell of persistent and at times heavy rain could lead to some disruption from Thursday until Saturday. This prompted them to issue a Yellow Warning for rain from 18:00 on Thursday until 06:00 on Saturday. A Yellow Warning for Wind is also in place from 12:00 on Friday until 12:00 on Saturday.

See Tickets is contacting all customers with tickets for tomorrow night offering them the choice of a refund or a change of date.

Cabinet Member for Vibrant City, Councillor John Price, said: "We want visitors to the Festival of Light to have a wonderful time and come away with happy memories.

"The safety and enjoyment of all those coming along to the event has to be our prime focus, so given the weather forecast we have reluctantly taken the decision to cancel tomorrow night's event. I know it's disappointing, but I hope everyone will understand why we have had to take this decision given the poor weather conditions."

The Festival of Light began in Sunderland city centre's Mowbray Park last Wednesday and runs through until Saturday 11 November.

All other dates for the Festival of Light are still available to book. Visit www.mysunderland.co.uk/fol for more information and to book tickets.