Garma festival forced to cancel after Covid safety plan rejected by CHO

THE Garma Festival has been cancelled for the second year in a row after their Covid safety plan was rejected by the NT’s Chief Health Officer.

• Yothu Yindi Foundation announces Garma Festival to return this year, with ‘strict caps’ on crowd numbers
• Garma Festival cancelled amid coronavirus concerns

THE Garma Festival has been cancelled after their Covid safety plan was rejected by the NT’s Chief Health Officer.

Acting Chief Health Officer Dr Charles Pain told media he decided not to allow the event to go ahead following the Covid outbreak in Victoria.

“Certainly we were considering seriously (allowing Garma to go ahead) up until then and then I only made the decision just before the weekend.

“Given what was happening in Victoria it clearly wasn’t something we could plan for now.”

The event was set to take place from late July in northeast Arnhem Land.

In a statement released today, the festival’s organiser the Yothu Yindi Foundation said the remote location of the festival posed “too many logistical and safety challenges in the unlikely event of a Covid incident.”

“It is with enormous regret and sadness that we advise this year’s Garma Festival will not proceed,” the statement said.

“Keeping the region Covid-free has always been YYF’s number one priority, so we accept the CHO’s decision, which also highlights the logistical and infrastructure challenges that exist in relation to any Covid outbreak in the remote Aboriginal world.

“The event is a source of enormous pride and satisfaction to Yolngu people, and each year Garma injects up to $13 million into the Northern Territory economy, about $5 million of which lands in Nhulunbuy and surrounding communities. The economic loss to local Territory businesses and Yolngu people will be significant again this year.”

The festival is held annually in the Arnhem Land community of Gulkula. It was also cancelled last year because of the pandemic.

The statement said the team are managing the process for ticketholder refunds.

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Originally published as Garma festival forced to cancel after Covid safety plan rejected by CHO