As we approach Christmas many families will be getting ready to head along to Christmas festivities across Berkshire such as Ascot's Lapland, Reading Winter Wonderland, and Windsor Great Park's Illuminated light trail.

However, one key player who made headlines last year is missing from this year's festive line up.

Newbury Christmas Carnival took over Newbury Racecourse during the Christmas period of 2022, boasting dozens of attractions from ice skating, to a big wheel and market.

Many had been keen for the event to make a return following the inaugural 2022 event, but after packing up in January, all things Christmas Carnival have gone quiet - with even the webpage being frozen in time.

Curious individuals searching for what happened to the event are met with a message: "The Great Christmas Carnival is now closed. We have packed up our sleighs at Newbury Racecourse for this year, thank you for spending the festive season with us."

The 2022 carnival itself received quite a mixed reaction including reports from one carnival-goer who visited on December 16, 2022, who described the attraction as a "scary horror movie" with rides being closed and only a few customers about.

In the Reading Chronicle's review, our reporter found the event to be filled with family fun but the experience proved a little pricey with a £5 to £7 admission charge required per person over age two, plus each ride and attraction costing additional sums of money.

Despite this many individuals praised the event, including one individual who wrote: "We had such a lovely time, especially at the circus."

The Carnival even gave a hint that it could return when one Facebook user wrote "See you back this year?" which the Newbury Christmas Carnival reacted positively to.

In January 2023, Newbury Racecourse broke their silence on the event stating in a report: "The Great Christmas Carnival (which ran from 25 November 2022 to 2 January 2023) was expected to create an important new revenue stream for the Company in the future.

"Following the Great Christmas Carnival finishing it has become apparent that due to a number of factors the event was not as well attended as expected, resulting in a material loss for both the Company and Underbelly."

In May, Newbury Racecourse reported £670,000 was lost from the Christmas Carnival event.

Since the news, the Reading Chronicle has been unable to make contact with event organiser Underbelly, with LD Communications who assisted with the carnival stating that it is no longer affiliated with Underbelly.