Major events cancelled and suspended: Revenue lost as 3-day lockdown begins in Greater Darwin and Katherine
A NUMBER of major events have been abandoned because of the sudden Covid-19 lockdown of Greater Darwin and Katherine, affecting hundreds of people and resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars.
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A NUMBER of major events have been abandoned because of the sudden Covid-19 lockdown of Greater Darwin and Katherine, affecting hundreds of people and resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars.
The Darwin Olympic Celebration set to be held on Tuesday has been cancelled, and the Darwin Festival has been suspended.
More than 500 people were due to attend the Gold Plate Awards, the NT’s top hospitality awards for restaurants, cafes and dining establishments.
More than 300 decision makers, industry representatives and senior public servants have gathered in Darwin for the region’s key economic summit — the Developing the North Conference.
Close to $1m was forecast to flow into the economy from their presence at the conference, which was due to run from Monday to Wednesday.
The conference planned to explore opportunities to advance economic and social development for the North.
The Darwin Festival will also have to put the next three days of its schedule on hold, disappointing the thousands of locals who have been flocking to events.
Three of the NT’s most well known chefs — Jimmy Shu (Hanuman), Madusha Olupathage (DoubleTree by Hilton) and Danny Yeum (Roast and Noodle) had teamed up to cook for the Gold Plate Awards.
Hospitality NT chief executive officer Alex Bruce said more than 80 per cent of the food being prepared for Monday night’s award was already in the ovens being prepared when the lockdown was announced.
“We are absolutely devastated by the news of the lockdown,” Mr Bruce said.
“We understand why, but you can imagine how the industry feels when this happens.”
Mr Bruce said the industry was gathering for a well-earned rest for the awards night which recognises winners in 20 categories.
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He said now they will look to put in place a plan to prevent the food from being wasted.
“We may look as dispersing it in a pop up food kitchen where people can donate money that we will give to charity.
Mr Bruce said Hospitality NT will now look to see if the awards night can be staged on an alternative date later in the year.
Darwin Festival organisers issued a statement saying operations will pause until further notice, in-line with the public health directive that all of the Greater Darwin area enter a 72hr lockdown.
“We are currently workshopping various programming scenarios, however it is too early to give a definitive update,” the statement said.
“We will continue to monitor the unfolding situation and follow any public health directives as they develop.
“We are incredibly conscious of the impact this uncertainty has on our ticket holders, artists, arts workers, suppliers and community stakeholders, and will do our best to remain in communication and to notify you as the situation evolves.
“We’d like to reiterate the Northern Territory government Department of Health’s message to stay home, stay safe and look out for one another.”
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