Royal Hobart Show organisers say it is full steam ahead for 2021 event, with only a lockdown able to stop it
Organisers of the Royal Hobart Show say they are determined for the event to go ahead this year for its 200th anniversary, saying only one thing will stop it from happening.
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ROYAL Hobart Show organisers have put a call out for entries for this year’s milestone event, as they grapple with uncertainty due to coronavirus.
The Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania has submitted a Covid safety plan to health authorities for consideration, ahead of the show which is due to be held from October 20-23.
Like most events in 2020, the show was cancelled last year, costing the show society about half a million dollars in lost income.
This year’s event will mark 200 years of agricultural showing in Hobart, with thousands of entries expected in categories ranging from art to animal competitions, and from home crafts to alpacas.
The show society said special 200 year medallions have been struck for winners of grand champion and best-in-show.
Entertainment is also being contracted for the show, including discussions about a nationally popular children’s act.
A freestyle motocross event will also return, with racing pigs all the way from Queensland also set to feature.
Show society chief executive Scott Gadd earlier this month said only a coronavirus-induced lockdown would stop the show from going ahead.
Another variable is the maximum amount of people allowed to enter the show under Public Health guidelines.
“We’re going to run a show to the best of our ability,’’ Mr Gadd had said.
“The only thing that’s going to stop us is lockdowns.”
Anyone wanting to enter should visit www.hobartshowground.com.au/show-sections
EARLIER:
ONLY a coronavirus-induced lockdown will stop the Royal Hobart Show from going ahead this year, but organisers are risking losing hundreds of thousands of dollars as the spectre of Covid hangs over the event.
Like many events in 2020, the show was cancelled last year, costing the Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania about half a million dollars in lost income.
Show society chief executive Scott Gadd said organisers were determined the event would proceed from October 20-24 this year, but they were facing many variables.
The possibility of an incursion of the Delta strain of the virus into Tasmania and subsequent chance of a lockdown was just one of the factors hanging over his head.
The other was the maximum number of people allowed to attend the show under Public Health guidelines.
Nevertheless, Mr Gadd said plans were “full steam ahead” for the 200th anniversary show.
“We’re going to run a show to the best of our ability,” he said.
“The only thing that’s going to stop us is lockdowns.”
Mr Gadd said constraints on crowd numbers did not help the organisers’ quest to put on a successful event.
“As the Public Health guidelines stand now, it’s 5000. We’re asking for a minimum of 10 [thousand], but we really need 20,000 per day,” he said.
“I imagine everyone’s got a bit wary given recent events in the last couple of weeks, and I expect we won’t get a hard answer on this until the death knell, right before the show.
“That’s not good because by then I would have spent half a million dollars, plus.
“And if it all goes pear-shaped, then I’ve got no hope of getting that back. But we’ve got no option, we’ve to commit.
“It’s a risk that we’ve decided we’re just going to have to take, because it is our 200th year of showing.”
But Mr Gadd vowed the event would proceed regardless of the final call on crowd numbers.
He said organisers had to have more than 100 staff to run the event compared to normal times when the number was closer to 40.
He said hand sanitiser stations cost $11,000 and there was $60,000 in extra wages.
Tasmania has a Covid-19 framework for larger-scale events, with outdoor events where people are moving and mixing freely allowed to have a maximum of 5000 people.
But operators have to have a Covid-19 safety plan completed and make an application for the event to proceed, with a final decision by Public Health authorities.
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