Famous Darwin Cup Carnival in doubt amid coronavirus crisis

THE famous Darwin Cup Carnival is in doubt in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

Ihtsahymn winning the 2019 Darwin Cup

THE famous Darwin Cup Carnival is in doubt in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

The NT News understands the turf club has been meeting regularly to decide what will happen to the eight-meeting carnival, which injects about $30 million a year into the Darwin economy.

It is understood one of the measures being considered was reducing the carnival down from eight meetings to make it a more boutique and shorter spread of key race meetings.

The club is working closely with those in the industry to determine the best way forward.

A large percentage of the attendees to the carnival are from interstate so, given the uncertainty over how long travel restrictions will last, crowds will be significantly impacted.

The club announced during the week that all race meetings would be run without crowds given the new social distancing restrictions implemented by the Federal Government.

It is obviously not known whether restrictions will be lifted in time for the carnival.

Turf club chairman Brett Dixon said a final decision on what would happen with the carnival was expected within the next week.

However, he warned it was unlikely the carnival would be run as an eight-meeting month-long event.

The Darwin Turf Club Gala Ball is still scheduled to be held at Mindil Beach Casino Resort, however, the event is in jeopardy given the ongoing uncertainty.

More than 1000 people usually attend the Gala Ball, which is scheduled for Saturday, August 1.

The carnival is scheduled to start in early July and runs until Darwin Cup day on Monday, August 3.

The carnival is set to host the opening of the controversial $12 million taxpayer-funded grandstand.

Work on the project is continuing.