RIVERLANDERS holding out hope for this year’s Loxton Show have been crushed, with organisers calling off the event last Thursday.
The Loxton Agricultural and Horticultural Society were optimistic earlier this year that the event would go ahead, but with the recent surge of coronavirus cases interstate posing a health and safety risk for patrons and volunteers, organisers decided to pull the pin last week.
This will be the tenth time the Show has been forced to cancel in all its history, and while Loxton Agricultural and Horticultural Society President Bill Shannon said it was disappointing, he said it was also the best decision given the current state of affairs.
“As disappointing as it was, we sort of knew as the weeks were going by that it was going to get very difficult to put it on, and the protocols to be COVID-compliant were going to be huge,” he said.
“It just wasn’t going to be a safe environment, and we obviously don’t know how far into the future this is all going to be.”
Mr Shannon said the society had held off making the final decision until now to avoid expending significant financial costs and further physical labour.
Organisers have been working hard behind the scenes to pencil in exhibitors, and discuss with convenors and sponsors since April, and Mr Shannon said he hoped all that work could be carried onto next year’s Show.
“Obviously we (would have) had to hire some marquees and various other things where we (would have) had to put some fairly major costs into – we obviously don’t have to do those costs anymore,” he said.
“That’s really why we left it this late because from now on, the costings would be coming in the next few months.”
While the Show will no longer go ahead, the Show society will continue to have its monthly meeting to prepare for next year’s event, and discuss the possibility of holding part of the Show online.
“We’re going to have our monthly meetings, and we will have a get-together leading up to our normal Show time,” Mr Shannon said.
“There’s been a little bit of interest (with) a section or two wanting to have an online display instead of having a physical one at our annual Show.
“We’re going to have a meeting with the convenors in the early stages of August to get their ideas if they’d like to do anything different.
“Probably the children or the young exhibitors would be a good example to get the young ones doing something over that time we’d normally have our Show.”
Mr Shannon would like to thank the Show’s sponsors, convenors, stewards, exhibitors and volunteers for their ongoing support and understanding, and looked forward to hosting the 101st Loxton Show in 2021.