Dear John,

On the 16th and 17th of December Hitchin’s Market Place will play host to a small enclosure housing vulnerable reindeer, subjected to crowds, noise, and an unnatural environment. We need your help to stop this!

Reindeer are herd animals who are native to the arctic tundra, and should never be kept in small groups enclosed within a busy market environment.

It’s time for this cruel use of live animals to come to an end. We need your help to stop this event!

We want the organisers of this event to realise that animals are not Christmas decorations, and choose to celebrate the festivities compassionately by cancelling the use of reindeer as props.

We need your help to show them that public opinion for using animals as entertainment is at an all-time low!

We reached out to the organisers both this year and last but received no response. We now need you to help get their attention.

Go to our action page to send an email to the organisers at Hitchin's BIG Weekend, asking them to plan compassionate, animal-free events this year and beyond. 

We are very pleased to say many event organisers who used animals previously have confirmed this year that they will no longer exploit them moving forward, so we hope - with your help - Hitchin's BIG Weekend's organisers will come to the same ethical conclusion, and stop this cruelty. 

Thank you to all who have taken part in our actions so far this year. Every action taken is a step forward towards achieving freedom for animals. We could not have such a loud voice without you by our side, so thank you. I will keep you updated on how this action goes.

For the animals,


Isobel McNally
Festive Events Campaigner
Freedom for Animals