Chinchilla Melon Festival cancelled due to Covid-19 uncertainty
The world’s largest melon festival has been called off for the second year running due to Covid fears, pushing thousands of tourists away from the region.
Chinchilla
Don't miss out on the headlines from Chinchilla. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Chinchilla Melon Festival has been called off for the second year running due to Covid concerns, crushing the huge event that can bring up to 20,000 tourists to the Western Downs.
Event organisers announced the cancellation of the major 2022 event due to “ongoing COVID-19 restrictions across the country”.
A Chinchilla Melon Festival Committee spokeswoman it was too risky for the region to go ahead with the festival given the spiralling Covid crises in other states.
“Many predicted this news was coming, but we are still devastated to announce we’re postponing our event for another year,” she said.
“The unknowns for large mass gatherings, snap lock downs, and travel restrictions made organising and planning the event difficult for committee members.”
Chinchilla Community Commerce and Industry president Shannon McDermott said he was shocked to hear about the festival cancellation, but knew the decision wasn’t completely left-of-field.
“It’s just another disappointment of Covid. But it hasn’t gone away, we are seeing the effect it’s having in NSW and we’re lucky not to have a major catastrophe in Queensland, but you never know,” he said.
“It’s a massive event that brings a boost to the region so it will obviously have an effect on the town’s revenue.”
The event was originally scheduled for February this year and then postponed to February 2022.
Founding committee member and melon farmer Darryl O’Leary said despite the cancellation, it was important to recognise the hard work and dedication of producers and businesses across the region.
“We appreciate all the support shown to us to date, and we encourage everyone to support the Chinchilla region and melon industry in any way as we look forward to a bigger and better festival,” Mr O’Leary said.
The Chinchilla Melon Festival was first held in 1994 and has grown into the world’s biggest melon festival with profits from the event flowing back into to the community and towards the next event.
Worldwide pandemics permitting, the committee spokeswoman said the Chinchilla Melon Festival will be held on February 16-19, 2023.
‘Water is vital’: Environmentalists drop last-ditch New Acland appeal
The green group that has been fighting tooth and nail to stop New Acland Coal from more than doubling in size has dropped its latest appeal.
Police recover body of man missing in regional Qld dam
The 45-year-old man is reported to have jumped off the dam wall but was unable to resurface, prompting a police search that came to a tragic end in the early hours of Tuesday morning.