COUNCIL funding for Winchester’s Woolly Hat Fair has been cast into doubt.

At a meeting of Winchester City Council’s town forum it was revealed that organisers have asked for civic funding for the event to be cut.

Live Theatre Winchester who organises Woolly Hat Fair receives grants totalling £34,000 to contribute towards The Hat Fair, Wooly Hat Fair and Theatre Royal. However this year the group has only been awarded £24,000, sparking concerns the festive hat fair had been axed.

The Woolly Hat fair is an annual event which sees a series of live pop-up performances and art installations come to unlikely venues across the city centre through December.

Last year’s range of spectacles included a Christmas Lighthouse keeper guiding travellers home at Winchester School of Art, living portraits at the United Church on Jewry Street and more besides.

Senior Liberal Democrat city councillor Kelsie Learney said at the forum: “We gave them the grant to sustain the Woolly Hat Fair. They found they couldn’t do it and so asked for £10,000 less this year.”

She added: “It was not quite what they wanted and found it was more work than it was worth, so asked to not have the grant renewed this year.”

However, Live Theatre Winchester’s Chief Executive Deryck Newland said that council funding for the Woolly Hat Fair had never been guaranteed and was always agreed on a year by year basis. If we get funding we intend to once again deliver the Woolly Hat Fair” Mr Newland said, adding they were exploring other avenues.

“If we do not get the funding from the council we will look elsewhere, we will be asking the council in the coming months for the grant,” he added.

A city council spokesman said: “Live Theatre Winchester did not request any funding for the Woolly Hat Fair in 2018/2019 but the city council continues to offer financial support to the Theatre Royal Winchester and Hat Fair.”