Manly Jazz festival 2020: Festival cancelled over coronavirus concerns
Businesses in Manly have suffered another huge blow after one of the suburb’s most popular festivals planned for October has been cancelled because of uncertainty over COVID-19 restrictions.
Manly
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Manly’s popular jazz festival which last year attracted more than 100,000 people has been cancelled due to uncertainty around COVID-19 restrictions.
The news will be devastating to businesses in the suburb which have already suffered massive losses from reduced tourism following bushfires and the pandemic.
It will also comes as a blow to the 1000 musicians due to play, whose livelihood’s have also been hugely impacted by the coronavirus.
Mayor Michael Regan said the decision to cancel the October event was not made lightly.
“We know how loved the Manly Jazz Festival is, people come from far and wide to enjoy three days of great music right on the beachfront,” Mayor Regan said.
“Unfortunately it’s simply not possible to host such an outdoor event and ensure restrictions are complied with.
“Our top priority has to be to keep people safe.
“A festival like Manly Jazz is months and months in the planning so while we have held off making the decision until now, we can’t do so any longer.”
State and federal government restrictions currently prevent any festival activity and require 1.5m social distancing in public places.
It is not known when those restrictions will be lifted.
The Northern Beaches Council event runs over the October long weekend.
Luke Atkins from the Manly Business Chamber said it was a “sensible decision but unfortunate that it’s happening at the moment, during the difficult period we are in”.
He said the festival was a “significant boost” to Manly’s economy at that time of year.
“It’s disappointing that events like this are not allowed to happen because it’s important for the vibrancy of Manly,” he said.
Manly MP James Griffin said the cancellation reinforces the importance of “looking forward and planning our events line-up right for the future so we can come roaring back”.
“For the foreseeable future how events are managed is going to be a challenge as long as we have COVID to be dealing with,” he said.
Mr Griffin has set up a task force to help navigate Manly through this tough economic period and is looking for ways to make the suburb more attractive to domestic visitors in the short-term and to ready itself for international visitors when they are allowed back into the country.
Cr Regan said the council was looking forward to the event coming back bigger than ever in 2021.
The cancellation of Manly Jazz, which has been running for 42 years, follows that of other major Australian music festivals including Bluesfest and Splendour In The Grass.