Unconformity stallholders forced to toss hundreds of kilograms of food after sudden cancellation
Stallholders have been left counting the cost of The Unconformity cancellation, after the festival was stopped on the first day due to the snap Covid lockdown.
West Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from West Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
STALLHOLDERS who were planning on selling their goods at The Unconformity have been left throwing away hundreds of kilograms of unusable stock, after the festival was cancelled on its first day.
The popular Queenstown event was cancelled after the state’s south went into a three-day lockdown on Friday, with fears travelling festivalgoers from Hobart could put the West Coast community at risk.
It is the second year in row the festival has been cancelled due to Covid.
“When we arrived yesterday to set up, there was a real sense of excitement,” Lab Baa and Lost Pippin operator Mark Robertson said.
“It was a pretty surreal feeling being about to open for a big festival, having set up and just nothing.
“It’s a disappointing situation to be in but the right calls were made.”
Mr Robertson estimated his loss would be about $3000 but said the community and organisers of the festival would suffer more.
“It was our first time at The Unconformity, we came in at late notice, we saw it as an exciting opportunity,” Mr Robertson said.
“This is the risk around public events at the moment.
“It puts into fine focus the decision making and the real risk taken by small business to attend these events.”
While some stock was able to be saved, Mr Robertson said a lot had to be thrown out.
“It was heartbreaking throwing out 100kg of potato salad,” he said
He said many were understanding of the situation.
“People were supporting each other,” he said.
“There’s a real community feel at festivals, we’re like a big family, there was so much understanding from the public and from other stallholders.”
Seven Sheds Brewery operator Willy Simpson said it was the first major festival they had worked in the past 18 months.
“We sold two cups of beer and then we were told it was closed down,” Mr Simpson said.
“We understand this is a very different, challenging time.
“I think there’s a much bigger picture here and the organisers made the right decision.”
Mr Simpson said he was lucky much of his stock was salvageable.
“A keg is a keg, we can still sell it,” he said.
“We’d brought back kegs of beer we can use. The people I really feel sorry for is the food stalls, their waste is much more significant than ours.”
Mr Simpson said he hoped the festival would be able to be held in the future.
“The first two Unconformity events we were a part of were fantastic,” he said
“I hope if they postpone the event they can make up some lost ground.
“I hope this cancellation isn’t any more than just a hiccup.”
‘Devastating’: Unconformity festival cancelled on day one
Highly anticipated festival The Unconformity has been cancelled on day one of the event, after a snap lockdown was announced for the south of the state.
Festival director Travis Tiddy said it was devastating, especially after the pandemic forced the cancellation of the event last year.
“This festival’s been three years in the making,” Mr Tiddy said.
“To get right on the doorstep of delivering and have it yanked from under our feet is devastating.
“In the end we needed to make the decision,”
The West Coast is not required to go into lockdown, but Mr Tiddy said travellers presented a risk to the community.
“Thousands of people have been making the way to the West Coast from Hobart,” Mr Tiddy said.
“Those people would have been integrating with the whole of the Queenstown community.
“That presented a significant risk exposure for the people who live here.”
It was expected the event would attract more than 3000 people to the West Coast and inject $600,000 into the local economy.
A decision is yet to be made on whether the event will be rescheduled.
“Our next action will be to connect with our artists and community and help determine what comes next but that’ll take time,” Mr Tiddy said.
“Festivals operate in such a high risk environment right now.
“It not only take incredible good planning but also a huge amount of luck to put them on, and that hasn’t fallen our way this year.”
West Coast mayor Shane Pitt, who is also on the board of the festival, said organisers would discuss the way forward.
“She was all ready to go, the first band was about to start playing and they were called off, that’s how close we were to getting the event underway,” Mr Pitt said.
He said the risk to the community was too great.
“Health services around here wouldn’t be able to handle the amount of possible cases,” Mr Pitt said.
“If there was a case it would be a huge issue for the West Coast.”
Mr Pitt said the effects of the cancellation would be felt across the West Coast.
“It’s going to be a huge impact to the local community, to food businesses who have obviously geared up for the weekend with extra stock,” Mr Pitt said.
“It’s going to be a big loss for those businesses that’s for sure.”
The mayor said times have been tough on the West Coast.
“It hasn’t been a good year for the west coast for tourists, it hasn’t been like it’s been in the past,” he said.
“We’re hoping we may be able to get the state government to assist in some way.
“We’d love travel vouchers for the West Coast to help businesses affected by the cancellation.”
INITIAL STORY:
Queenstown will come alive with alluring art installations and a string of music events this weekend as the Unconformity festival kicks off.
The biennial event inspired by the rare geological unconformity and unique paradoxes of Tasmania’s West Coast will make its return on Friday for the first time in three years – a feat that artistic director Travis Tiddy said was a massive effort for his team in the middle of a pandemic.
“It does feel like a different festival than previous years,” he said,
“Since The Unconformity was last held the whole world has changed.”
Ticketed events featured in the three-day festival were snapped up in record time with over half a million dollars expected to be injected into the local economy.
“The Unconformity has provided an amazing trigger for local businesses to finish off restorations and really target the weekend as a high energy launch moment as we enter the summer tourism season.” said Tiddy.
Regional tourism body, West by North West expects to see not only thousands of Tasmanians but holiday-makers from afar descending on the small mining town for the arts festival.
“Although interstate visitation is likely to be less than previous years for obvious reasons, some interstaters have still made the trip to Tassie especially for the festival.” said CEO Tom Wootton.
“The festival is still sold out and local beds are full – which is testament to the level of support from Tasmanians for this now iconic regional event.”
Empire Hotel is one of many venues booked out and prepping for the big weekend.
“Every time the event is hosted it’s pretty much shoulder to shoulder,” said bar worker Paiten Pursell.
“We’ve had to take measures with spacing around the hotel, to make sure we’re following Covid laws.”
The festival’s program is jam-packed with inherently unique performances and exhibitions, with more than 70% of the program free to access.
More than 150 diverse artists and musicians will be showcasing their work including the premiere of a new performance called Collision – a dance collaboration that features a 3.6m tall sculpture created by Tasmanian blacksmith Pete Mattila as well as an industrial installation titled SEED made out of abandoned cars and machinery found on the West Coast.
The heart of Queenstown has also been transformed into a meeting hub called Crib Road boasting food and entertainment while the West Coast Wilderness’ empty railway carriages are now cosy reading hubs, giving festivalgoers the chance to connect with storytellers.
Although the forecast for the weekend looks soggy, Tiddy said the town is buzzing with positive energy.
“In a strange way I’m really excited that it’s going to be a wet West Coast weekend.”
“I hope people embrace the elements, embrace the art, embrace the local community and have a cracking weekend.”
See the festival’s full program at theunconformity.com.au
chelsea.cosgrave@themercury.com.au
More Coverage
Zeehan resident describes how bushfires got dangerously close
For Central Hotel Zeehan Publican Larry Cuevas, it was the smoke that was the toughest part of having to deal with the bushfires that are ravaging the West Coast.
WATCH: Guide gets perfect vantage point of West Coast bushfires
It was a race to get up to the summit of Mount Oakleigh, but Shaun Mittwollen managed to see the West Coast bushfires better than most. Here’s what it was like seeing the fires so close.