Autumn Festival 2021 cancelled

Armidale’s annual Autumn Festival celebration has been cancelled this year, due to continuing NSW Government COVID-19 restrictions on outdoor events.

Armidale Regional Council has been working tirelessly to find alternative solutions to bring the community a COVID-Safe festival without compromising the spirit of the long-running event. However, Council hasn’t been able to find a format that aligns with the current government restrictions while upholding the unique atmosphere of the festival.

Armidale Regional Council Mayor Ian Tiley said the Autumn Festival is a favourite on the community events calendar and has had a long and successful tradition for over 28 years.

“Council has been working with a number of community groups to develop a COVID-Safe plan in a controlled environment, to monitor numbers and ensure compliance, but unfortunately attendance capacity restrictions on outdoor events have made it impossible to manage safely, particularly the parade.

“We didn’t want to be restricted by attendance capacities and it didn’t feel right to have to turn festival-goers away from a community event once the capacity was reached,” said Cr Tiley.

Council would like to thank the Armidale Showground Reserve Trust, Armidale City Band, Armidale Pipe Band, Armidale Community Farmers’ Market, Classic and Specialist Car Club of Northern NSW, Armidale Antique Machinery Club and John Castle Entertainment for assisting in this year’s preparations.

“Let’s hope next year we can run the Autumn Festival as we usually do with large crowds lining the streets to watch the wonderful parade and participate in all the associated activities held during the Autumn Festival weekend celebrations,” said Cr Tiley.

Published on 24 Feb 2021