Cancelled flight no communication

We booked tickets for 25 Dec 16:00, we received a e-mail confirming our flight for 16:00 departure. When we checked in at 14:00 the personnel inform us that we are only leaving at 19:00. We received no SMS or emails to inform us that the flight is canceled. This leaves us stranded on Christmas for 5 at the airport, wasting our festive day. This could all be avoided by a simple SMS, email or even a whatsapp.