A two-day free family festival may not return as visitors know it after councillors chose to axe the event and change how it's organised.
Costessey Town Council decided in a private meeting in October to cancel the 2023 Costessey Fete and Fayre, which has been running every spring for 10 years.
It has been organised by council member Gary Blundell for the past six years.
Chairman Dan Burrill explained the meeting was private because it involved discussing council staff.
However he reiterated the importance of the fete for the community adding it would return to Longwater Lane park in 2024 and would involve volunteers but be organised by council staff.
Mr Blundell said: "There will be a town council-run fete in 2024 but on what basis, I don't know. The town council feels it is too big and wants to reduce it.
"Costessey people see it as a tradition. The aim for me is to organise a fair in 2023 as an individual but I am running out of time to get a location."
He felt it was "wrong" to have a secret meeting and added people in the community were angry the fete - which attracted 10,000 people this year - would change.
Mr Blundell, who has previously been supported by volunteers, said the council-funded fete made a profit and believed it could fund the event as well as other initiatives to support the suburb.
But Mr Burill said the event attracted complaints about firework noise and the effects on animals, as well as traffic problems in Longwater Lane.
He added: "The running of the fete has always been done by the council.
"Gary ran it for several years as a volunteer because the council allowed him to do so.
"We are working with stallholders and stakeholders to come up with how we are going to run it in the future so it works for the community.
"It is likely to be smaller in scale and we don't expect evening events.
"The fete had outgrown the facility we had and there was a risk of it taking over the whole of council time.
"We are desperately working out our budget with rising inflation and doing the best we can."
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