COVID-19 restrictions force AELEC event Tamworth Show 2020 to be cancelled

The Tamworth Pastoral and Agricultural Show Management Committee decided to cancel the 2020 event at its June meeting.

Committee member Shelli Lewington said in rural and regional NSW, the local show is a cornerstone event.

"We don't want to disappoint our participants and our visitors ... we don't want it to be another blow, we want to stress this is to secure the future of the show," she told the Leader.

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Ms Lewington said the Tamworth Show is designed to bring the community together, and trying to put on a socially-distanced event would not be viable.

"We went, okay, can we put on this show and not have many people come through the gates, and jeopardise the future of the Tamworth Show?" Ms Lewington said.

"Unfortunately COVID-19 has affected us to the point where we had to cancel and hopefully we can come back better than ever in 2021."

Despite the easing of restrictions, Ms Lewington said it was too risky to go ahead with such a large-scale event.

"It's a big ask for our stakeholders, our volunteers, our participants," she said.

"To make the show a successful event thousands of people need to attend, participate and social distancing rules would restrict those numbers."

The Tamworth Show was scheduled to run at the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre (AELEC) on September 4 to 6 this year.

Last year, more than 12,000 people walked through the gates over the course of the three-day event.

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"It would not be a financially wise decision with the added cost of implementing all the COVID-19 regulations, hiring of the AELEC facility and the uncertainty of the number of people through the gate to proceed with the show this year," Ms Lewington said.

The society released a statement in March indicating it planned to plow on with the event, but Ms Lewington said no one guessed how hard-hitting the coronavirus pandemic would be.

"Unfortunately COVID was bigger than we anticipated and the ... hit to the economy is bigger than we anticipated," she said.

The committee is hoping to put on a show for the whole community to enjoy in September 2021.

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