Fireworks event at Colchester Rugby Club to return

Colchester Ruby Club will host its traditional fireworks display, at its grounds  in Raven Park, Cuckoo Farm Way, on November 3.

It has become an increasingly popular spectacle over the last few years, alongside the beloved Castle Park display.

However, the organisers of the event received legal threats from nearby residents and animal owners, which resulted in a more subdued display in 2023.

Club - Colchester Rugby Club (Image: Google Maps) With its next event looming, Colchester Rugby Club announced on social media that following “last year’s quieter display”, it is “turning up the volume" with the return of spectacular big bangs and dazzling pyrotechnics.

But the move has left some campaigners disappointed at the news. 

Lynn Cutress is the CEO of Redwings Horse Sanctuary, a UK horse welfare charity which cares for more than 2,000 rescued horses and donkeys every day.

Display - fireworks from a previous Colchester Rugby Club event (Image: DW Photography)

She said: “This is a very disappointing U-turn after the rugby club’s low-noise fireworks display last year and we’re urging them to reconsider their plans, and keep horses in mind.

“As flight animals with highly attuned senses, horses can be very reactive to loud noises, in particular.

“People sometimes ask why they can’t just ‘be put in a stable’ but confining them and/or a change of routine can add to the stress of a fireworks display and, in fact, make the experience more distressing.”

She said two Redwings horses, Vincent and Elsey, live close to the rugby club with their guardians.

Redwings CEOSpeaking up - Lynn Cutress with her Guardian pony Redwings Anam (Image: Redwings Horse Sanctuary)

Sanctuary - Redwings Horse Sanctuary's Essex location (Image: Redwings Horse Sanctuary)

In a letter sent to the Gazette by the club's chairman Karl O'Brien, who has owned "many horses over the years", he said organisers have tried to be very considerate.

He said: "I would have been over the moon if someone close to our fields and stables had given us notice of a regulated event that was taking place within a small window of time once a year.

"This is a well organised and regulated event that is approved by the council.

"We are not limited to just one event per year but as a committee and club it was agreed that one event to celebrate a traditional and historic event, rather than a few adhoc events throughout the year, would be more considerate."

The letter said the club had been left disappointed by "the tone and level of threats" made against the event.