Isle of Wight-based Mainsail claimed a "lack of visitors" was behind its decision to cancel the event.
Weymouth and Portland are hosting the Olympic sailing events, which yesterday saw Briton Ben Ainslie take his fourth gold medal in four Olympic Games for Team GB. His success, however, wasn’t enough to draw the crowds to Bayside.
Organisers said there were signs on all the major roads leading into the town alerting drivers to non-existent queues and traffic chaos in Weymouth. In fact, merely 160 of the 6,000 car parking spaces had been taken on day two of the festival, it said.
A statement on the festival’s website reads: "Our priority now is naturally the welfare of our employees, who have worked tirelessly over many months to bring the vision for the Olympics in Weymouth alive. It's still the greatest show on earth, and Weymouth is open for business."
Johnny Palmer of SXS Events - the main contractor for the festival - agreed that the prudent traffic planning led to many people avoiding Weymouth. He said SXS was paid for all the work it did at the event. "I went to the festival and it had a great atmosphere, there were just not enough people," he said.
David Clarke, chief executive of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, said: "The borough council is very disappointed for the company behind the Bayside Festival. The decision to close this single part of what is on offer in Weymouth at the moment is entirely a matter for the commercial operator of that site."
The event had been designed to offer visitors to Weymouth a complementary visitor experience within the town during the Games. It was scheduled to have live entertainment on two stages throughout each day and a mix of exhibits, retailers and bars.
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