The organisers of Whangarei’s immensely popular Fritter Festival are disappointed to announce that this year’s festival will be cancelled because of COVID-19.
"There have been no confirmed cases of the disease in Northland so far, our decision to cancel at this stage has been guided by our government’s responses to the fast-moving international situation and the need to protect our communities from this disease," says Council’s community group general manager Sandra Boardman.
"The event is 12 days away and given the pandemic’s progress over the weekend, we think it would be reasonable to expect the festival would not be permitted by March 28. This way we are providing as much notice of the cancellation as we can for those who have made commitments.
"We thank all the whanau and friends who planned to attend, for the artists who were to perform, all the vendors, sponsors, suppliers, contractors, staff and the wider Whangarei business community who have supported the event in past years and we share your disappointment. This is one of the big highlights of Whangarei’s event calendar and our team have been planning it for months.
"We also feel for two of our headline acts, Katchafire and ManaLion, who are overseas and would have been in isolation on the 28th.
"Eventfinda will be in touch with all ticket holders to advise how people can get a refund through their website. People who purchased their tickets at Te Manawa The Hub Information Centre in Whangarei will be able to get a refund from The Hub.
"We are all hoping that this cancellation will help to keep our community healthy and safe so more events of this type can be held when the pandemic emergency is resolved," says Sandra.
