A CHOCOLATE festival promising a “day of delectable confectionary” has been cancelled following terrible reviews at other venues.

Hundreds of people had bought tickets for The Fantastical Chocolate Festival, due to take place at Bournemouth’s Pavilion Theatre on Saturday December 1.

But after complaints at similar events in Bristol and Liverpool, organisers have cancelled all pre-Christmas festivals.

Ticket-holders were notified by ticketing company EventBrite, which sent them all a message.

It said: “Dear Guest, it is with a heavy heart that we have to inform you that we are having to cancel this show and refund your tickets.

‘Our events to date have not met the varying expectations of some guests, with our last show in Bristol resulting in seven per cent of people requesting a ticket refund. Most of the 1400 guests from the last show went home happy.

“However we do not feel we can continue to run the remainder of the events this year with the negative attention this has garnered and will be picking back up in January next year with a completely reworked event in which we are confident will deliver for the full spectrum of expectations our guests have.”

It said all refunds will be processed and money returned to accounts within 10 days.

Tickets for the festival cost up to £17 and advertisements said the event would feature live music and displays from chocolatiers.

Organisers promised “an array of chocolate and confectionary goodness” and said events would include Candyfloss flowers, bubble waffles and chocolate vodka.

Bur complaints flooded in after previous events, claiming they were poorly-run and over-priced.”

Visitors criticised chocolate fountains and said promised extras such as photo booths were missing. Many said stalls contained mainly cakes and cookies with little chocolate on offer.