Toowoomba Regional Council urges community groups to organise more Christmas events after 80 per cent drop in 2020

The impacts of COVID-19 on events co-ordination are being felt this Christmas, with the council noting a steep decline in the number of activities and get-togethers organised for the festive season.

Madeline Archer and John Nicholson at the Christmas Wonderland at the Botanical Gardens, Queens Park. Picture: Nev Madsen.

The Toowoomba Regional Council is urging community groups to get back involved with the festive season, after it has witnessed an 80 per cent decline in events organised for the period.

Environment and community chair Cr James O’Shea said while the TRC would normally receive about 35 applications for Christmas-related community events in November and December, he said just seven had been received so far for 2020.

While he understood the apprehension from many groups to organise festivities during COVID-19, Cr O’Shea said there was a way to run events safely.

“There’s no doubt we’ve seen a decline of community events this year, which is not surprising considering the number of challenges we’ve had to face as a result of COVID-19,” he said.

“While there are a number of obstacles organisers need to overcome, now is the time when the council is calling on groups to help the community rebuild local pride, resilience and to simply have a bit of fun with friends and neighbours at an event.

“The council has also been using its events to demonstrate how COVID-safe mass gatherings can be managed in a responsible way.

“The council has put a number of measures in place for events such as the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers and by changing its traditional movie nights to ‘drive-in movie nights’ so we can better social distance families.”

Cr O’Shea said the TRC was prepared to support event co-ordinators to make sure it could move ahead in a safe and sustainable way.

“To help groups, the council has been encouraging all festivals to rethink how they can deliver an event in a COVID-safe manner, with the Lions Christmas Lights a great example of how this can happen,” he said.

“Lions were initially planning to have a smaller event but after engaging with Council they have been able to reinvent in such a way that it makes it possible for them to celebrate and share the festive spirit on a much larger scale.

“The Lions have partnered with the council to ensure we light up the region for Christmas in a COVID-Safe manner.

“We encourage all community groups to work with the council so they can look at how their events can also be reimagined.”

Cr O’Shea also encouraged potential volunteers to sign up, saying many groups were reporting a big drop in numbers.

For more information, call 131 872.