Uralla's seventh annual Seasons Of New England Expo, due to commence in Hampden Park on Saturday, March 28, has been cancelled due to COVID-19 government restrictions.
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Co-organiser Tara Toomey anticipated a very special event this year for many reasons, not the least because a train was due to bring passengers to Uralla from Broadmeadow.
Her description of the train as a really a stylish and "social way to travel" went out the window with the restrictions. Now, she looks forward to the event for another reason.
"We're planning to run the Seasons Of New England "Virtual" Expo on March 28," she said.
"I do think it is the best outcome, and the right thing to do in the current circumstances.
"The train was the most concern to me because it's more of a confined area."
Tara said they had taken advice from the COVID-19 Help Line and even worked out how they would disinfect the hard surfaces inside the train every two hours.
"We could tell there were some announcements coming. They made both decisions very easy," she said.
"Because I had been worried for a few weeks that crowds would be down, I had been working on a free, online guidebook available to all our stallholders, and our 2020 directory was just about to be uploaded.
"There are some things I have been doing around that directory to make it the cornerstone of a virtual expo."
Tara said it was a virtual alternative, so people were better able to find New England businesses that were really going to need their support. They were mainly smaller producers who only existed through markets and online retail.
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"This is all a bit of a learning curve for me, but I have got some great people who are willing to talk with me about how this might best roll out," she said.
"Talking to these experienced people, there is a lot you can do that makes for a really positive and vibrant, interactive marketplace.
"We do have a unique offering in the New England and it is an opportunity to showcase the New England to perhaps a broader audience than we would have on the day anyway."
