Nundle's Go for Gold festival cancelled for third year running

The famous Chinese Easter festival, which honours the history of the old gold mining town, was canned in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.

The event was axed again in 2021.

Go for Gold is one of the tourist town's biggest draws. It attracted over 10,000 people in 2019, the last time it was run

A new committee will instead hold a "micro-event" at Easter, though details have yet to be ironed out.

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Megan Trousdale, who had been a member of the Go for Gold organising committee, said all 11 members had been sacked by email on January 6.

The reason given for the disbandment was that the group was only able to fill two slots of a four-person executive.

She said there were pro and anti wind farm camps in the committee.

"I think it reflects how division is impacting the community," she said.

"But saying that, we do try very hard to keep the wind farm division out of events."

Chairperson, Megan Carberry, confirmed she resigned from the role, but otherwise refused to comment telling the Leader she was no longer authorised to do so.

Deputy chairperson, Russell Sydenham, was also contacted for comment.

A spokesperson for Tamworth Regional Council said the festival had been a tourism drawcard for the region for many years

"Council is disappointed that the event will not be going ahead in 2022, and will continue to work with the Nundle community should the festival go ahead in the future," she said.

Ms Trousdale said the committee had held two meetings in 2021, in which a majority of the group expressed a desire to hold a smaller-scale "micro-event".

She said a smaller-scale event would mitigate the "risk and uncertainty around large-scale events".

The group wanted to avoid being in the same boat the Tamworth council found itself in, in January, when the entire country music festival was postponed until April, she said.

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"The advice from council was that that wasn't acceptable," she said.

"And that could be to do with the structure of a section 355 committee."

Ms Trousdale said the administrative and occupational health and safety regulations governing the large event had also imposed an "increasing workload" on volunteer organisers. The time commitment was part of the reason she and other committee members didn't want to step up.

The event was due to take place on April 16 and April 17 this year.

The future of the Go for Gold event looks to be smaller-scale and lower-profile.

A new committee organised under the banner of the Nundle Business and Tourism Marketing Group is set to coordinate the very "micro-event" the old group called for.

Ms Trousdale, who is president of the group, said shrinking the event was anything but a blow for the town.

She wasn't sure if the Go for Gold festival would be held in 2023, or ever again.

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"I think the Go for Gold festival as we know it will probably evolve into something smaller," she said.

Details remain scant, but Ms Trousdale compared it with the smaller-scale Nundle country picnic, and Nundle dog race, or the "collaboratively" marketed event organised during the country music festival. Both events took place last year.

"We don't want people to come to Nundle at Easter expecting a go for gold festival," she said.

"We want to have a program of events that will be enjoyable for the people who are staying here at Easter."

The business group's conversations with council are continuing, and they plan to meet this month to help iron out the details for the event.

The festival generally attracts between 14,000 and 16,000 people to a town just hundreds strong.

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