How COVID restrictions have brought big changes to Moomba
Melbourne’s pandemic woes mean next month’s Moomba festival will be missing big attractions. See how celebrations will look.
Victoria
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Coronavirus restrictions have killed the Birdman Rally and traditional parade for next month’s Moomba festival.
Instead, patrons will need to buy tickets for timed events while a special “Moomba Playground” will try to replace the feel of the parade.
The Andrews Government is considering plans for the scaled-down festival submitted by Melbourne City Council amid ongoing pandemic woes.
Dumping the popular Birdman Rally will be a huge blow for the city as the event usually attracts tens of thousands of people, and last year raised more than $100,000 for charities.
But Lord Mayor Sally Capp said tough decisions had to be made to ensure community safety for the festival which runs over the Labour Day long weekend.
“The Birdman Rally normally attracts almost 40,000 people in a confined space so it’s just not possible during a pandemic,” she said.
Birdman Rally veteran Michael Paul, who’s won the longest distance flight award 13 times, said the cancellation was disappointing.
“The spectators will also be disappointed, but during the Covid period I understand we can’t have thousands of people all squeezed along the fence watching the event,” he said.
“But I’ll be there next year for sure.”
Daniel Mazzei, who won last year’s event, said: “It’s very disappointing that that’s the case, but if it’s about the health of the wider community, well, there are worse things that can happen.”
Ms Capp said the Moomba Parade, which last year attracted 1900 performers and a crowd of 32,500, also could not proceed.
“Unfortunately the Moomba Parade cannot be delivered as a ticketed event, so it won’t be going ahead on its usual route through Domain Parklands,” she said.
“Instead, we are working on plans for a re-imagined Moomba Playground at the Queen Victoria Gardens.”
“While the parade and rally can’t go ahead this year, we’re still planning colourful, free and family-friendly attractions to surprise and delight Melburnians.”
Under the plans, Moomba events will be ticketed, with timed sessions for watching shows and using rides at the normal Alexendra Gardens site.
The council is proposing a capacity of up to 4500 patrons, with three, four-hour sessions spread across each day.
People will need to enter with a QR code, and areas will be cleaned between sessions.
The Lord Mayor said most events would remain free to enter.
“Marshals would also be employed to help manage physical distancing requirements,” she said.
“We will continue our discussions with the Victorian Government to try and make sure this much-loved community event can proceed safely.”
Moomba usually attracts about 1.3 million people.
The Birdman Rally began in 1976 and took a break between 1994 and 1999.
In 2020, a record $111,858 was raised for various charities as 16 competitors attempted to take flight across the Yarra River.
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