Grinch party at pub cancelled after staff were ‘bullied’ at £20 event

A pub has ended up in a row with parents after claims adults were behaving badly at a Grinch event and ‘bullied’ staff while the event was criticised as a ‘waste of money.’

Families have been left fuming after the Balfour Arms pub in Sidmouth, Devon, cancelled its Grinch-themed event just days before Christmas after running it for one day instead of three.

The event, with tickets costing £20 per child, was advertised for having a meet-and-green with Grinch, Santa’s grotto, pony petting, fairground rides, hot chocolate and activities as the pub wanted to spread festive cheer.

The pub said it decided to call off the events after yellow weather warnings meant stallholders had cancelled their appearance.

But before cancelling, the pub said its staff who had organised the event to ‘see smiles on children’s face’ received ‘bullying and trolling.’

It had faced criticism online following the first event on Saturday, with some visitors saying it was overcrowded after too many tickets were allegedly sold. Others said the pub had done a great job organising the event and staff had put a lot of effort into it.

The pub responded online after receiving feedback, claiming large groups of adults had arrived with one child as adults could enter for free with a child, causing the event ‘being very overcrowded.’

Adults also chomped down on the free food at the buffet intended for children and some adults tried to ‘claim free face painting.’

The Grinch was also allegedly subjected to abuse, including punching.

The pub wrote: ‘[The] Grinch is there to entertain the children however he’s not there to be abused, adults sending their children over laughing as they tried to pull his mask off of his face and punching him in the stomach, punching him in the throat, continuous beating of a man that is just trying to do something nice while the parents sat by and watched and laughed.’

One mum who had travelled from Torquay with her family on Saturday said the event ‘really wasn’t what was advertised.’

She told DevonLive there we ‘a lot of very unhappy people and children’ and that parents told her ‘kids were in tears and had to leave like us.’

Another parent said the £60 they spent on the event was ‘wasted.’

Their anger was further fuelled after the pub allegedly deleted negative comments and kept only positive ones, according to the outlet.

After the first day and heavy criticism online, the pub then announced it was forced to cancel the rest of the event due to bad weather. The Met Office had issued a yellow weather warning for wind gusts covering most of England and Scotland, including Devon.

The pub said refunds would be processed ‘as quickly as possible’ as it apologised to disappointed parents.

One parent said it was ‘absolutely disgusting’ to cancel the event just hours before as their children were already in their Grinch outfits and ready to go, while others said they were already on their way from more than an hour away.

Others said the pub did the right thing to cancel for everyone’s safety.

The pub said it would have been ‘dangerous to go ahead with bouncy castles with the winds’ and that the cancellation was ‘completely out of control.’

It said the Grinch and Santa had been outside greeting the people who had arrived before seeing that the event had been axed.

A grandmother said that while they travelled for an hour, cancelling the event ‘was the right thing to do.’ She said her granddaughter got to meet the Grinch and Santa before thanking the pub ‘for doing your best it’s really appreciated.’

One fan of the pub wrote following the spat: ‘I just hope it doesn’t put you off doing such events in the future. Because let’s face it, there’s no other pub even attempting to do what the Balfour Arms do. The best pub in Sidmouth by a country mile.’

The pub’s manager said they will no longer host a ticketed event next year after the backlash, but instead will organise a free event for local children.

The manager explained to DevonLive that they had made all the Whoville houses by hand and decorated the pub.

They said: ‘The majority of people have been lovely but the negative comments some people have sent and posted have completely destroyed me. I really was just trying to do something nice. I suffer from severe anxiety. Now I don’t want to go out and feel embarrassed.

‘We have also had people ringing the pub with men threatening to come and drag me outside by my hair and saying I deserve what’s coming to me etc.

‘Although people have complained, all you could hear on the day was children laughing.’

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