SpringFest 2020 cancelled

NOVEMBER’S Springfest is the latest casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, with organisers making the call to not run the 2020 event.

Originally set for the last Sunday in November, the Rotary Club of Ballarat president Alan Campbell said public safety was key.

“The Rotary Club of Ballarat and SpringFest Committee are very disappointed to make this announcement but ensuring the health and safety of the community was paramount,” he said.

“The COVID-19 health crisis is unprecedented and the ongoing changes to social distancing measures and mass gathering restrictions being made in the best interest of public health, means that we are unable to plan and deliver the 2020 SpringFest Ballarat Event with any certainty.”

With 540 stall holders, with six main-events and over 150 volunteers, plus an expected attendance of tens-of-thousands, Mr Campbell also said trying to organise the event during the ongoing uncertainty was a factor in the decision.

“It was also important to decide on SpringFest Ballarat now, as many stall holders spend months preparing for the Market,” he said.

“We are fortunate to have an incredibly passionate and supportive community involved in SpringFest Ballarat each year and during these uncertain times we wanted to give everyone as much notice as possible.”

All might not be completely lost this year, though, with SpringFest co-ordinator Nicole Bartlett saying organisers were seeing if there were other options to run some kind of event.

“The SpringFest committee are exploring alternative opportunities to present SpringFest Ballarat online to enable us to continue to support our community partners and offer a platform for stall holders to be involved,” she said.

“We will have more details on how the public can support and get involved over the coming weeks.”