EXCLUSIVE 'You reap what you sow!' Locals at war over famous flower show in quaint town after bosses blasted for getting 'too cocky'

Daily Mail​

27-04-2025

For over 100 years it has been known as the 'town of flowers', but economic turmoil, bomb hoaxes and royal snubs mean things are far from rosy in Shrewsbury.
Last week, the organiser's of Shrewsbury Flower Show announced they were cancelling this years events meaning the town will go without its flagship event for just the fourth time since 1854.
The Shropshire Horticultural Society cited 'changes to National Insurance (NI) and the minimum wage' alongside rising security costs making the event unsustainable.
In 2024 alone, the festival was forced to spend over £150,000 on additional security and barriers due to disruption at the 2023 event.
However, furious residents and business owners have hit back at the news, accusing festival organiser's of being 'too cocky' and even suggesting that the absence of any royals at the show last year 'killed' it.
The 2020s have not been kind to the event with the 2020 iteration cancelled by Covid and the 2023 addition being derailed by a bomb hoax.
Although the event made a successful return in 2024, attendees complained of intense security arrangements making parts of the town unnavigable.
This year's festival would have likely required even more security due to the effect of the new Martyn's Law - a new bill that require all premises with a capacity of more than 200 to ensure they have a plan in place for an attack.
The cancellation seems excusable in the current economic environment, however when MailOnline visited the town this week the atmosphere of mistrust and anger towards the festival was palpable.
Many hospitality businesses in the town count the long August weekend over which the festival runs as the busiest of their year.
Rooms in hotels and bed and breakfasts can often be booked up years in advance, but this year, they will be empty, costing many venues thousands in lost revenue.
One such business owner is Danielle Ditella, who runs the trendy bar The Loopy Shrew as well as some local B&Bs.
She told the MailOnline: 'We will be losing thousands because of it, others will lose more. We are guaranteed the B&B business during the festival and some of the rooms are actually booked up a full year in advance.
'We won't necessarily get the trade back. It will really affect the town's economy. There has been a decline in the festival over the last few years, it hadn't really kept up with the times if I'm honest.
'We're the town of flowers without a flower show. I would like to think we can replace it with something else.
'The government need to wake up and see how desperate the hospitality industry is.'
These sentiments were concurred by a local landlord set to be heavily affected by the lack of trade.
He said: 'It's always been popular and brings thousands of people here every summer. That's a lot of people suddenly not coming to Shrewsbury every year.
We're known for it and have lost our identity overnight.'
Despite what outsiders might think, local feeling towards their town's signature event is far from rosy.
Although they are known as the town of flowers, many locals we spoke to expressed resentment and even jubilation towards the festival's struggles due to its perceived elitist attitude.
Traditionally a favourite haunt of the royal families summer calendar, 2024's edition saw no members of the family attend - a fact that was as pleasing to some locals as it was apparently distressing for organisers.
'That killed them', one man who preferred to stay anonymous said, ' every year prices would go up and up and they'd cling to this idea that they were a 'royal event'!
'You reap what you sow in the end, local people had been priced out.'
Two people who will miss the flower show are Welsh couple Gillian and Wayne Llewellyn who have been attending for over twenty years and even bought a holiday home in the town to be closer.
'One of the attractions was going to the show every year. This is the county town -you've had thoughts cost wouldn't be a problem for them', said Wayne.
'Shrewsbury will suffer for this, anywhere is a security threat', Gillian added.
The security threat referred to is of course the now infamous 'bomb scare' of 2023 which saw scenes of pandemonium as thousands of elderly flower enthusiasts were forced to scramble up the steep hills of the quarry after a threat was called in.
West Mercia Police said it believed the 'serious threat' was a hoax however the two-day event was all but derailed.
The hoax has since come part of local legend in the town.
'Everyone around here knows who called in the bomb hoax', one man tells us, 'but nobody will tell you.'
The knock on effect of the hoax however saw claustrophobic security arrangements introduced for last year's show with the entire park shuttered to the public over the weekend.
But many locals still believe the security costs are too convenient an excuse for the cancellation and allege darker arts were at play.
One man, who refused to give his name other than 'Dave who works in hospitality' due to his reputation in the town, alleged that the ultra wealthy had clamped down on the show disturbing their weekends.
He claimed: 'It's a question of funding, the government really should have stepped in. It brings so much to town, its a massive boost for the town. It will kill it, it brings in so much money in terms of hospitality and funding.
'The bomb scare element is silly, nobody would ever bomb a flower show. The security last year was over the top but locals don't think that was the reason it is gone.
'People think that the people who live in the nice houses on the river complained about the noise and crowds from the fireworks.'
Despite the anger, many residents including Val and John Winchester told us they were sad that the iconic festival had been brought to its knees but said the writing had always been on the wall.
Val said: 'Personally I think there's so many RHS shows around and they burned themselves trying to compete with the the others.
'They got too cocky. It became too expensive for a family to go. They were also charging trade stands an arm and a leg to even set up a pitch so they aren't coming.
'And the ones that do had to up their prices to make ends meet, one of my friends paid £5 for a Mr Whippy in there!
'The death knell was when the royals didn't come last year', John added, 'That's when you know it had properly ran out of road.
'It will have a huge knock on effect for the town obviously, it brings in a lot of money every year.'
'The security last year was ridiculous, continued Val, 'Nobody could get through the Quarry at all for the entire thing. People had to walk around the entire town to get where they needed.
'It wasn't that bad before the bomb hoax. It might be a bit far to say that person killed the town, but they've arguably killed the festival. I mean who would bomb a flower show?'
MailOnline has contacted the DCMS, Shropshire County Council and the Shropshire Horticultral Society for comment.