The Art Deco Trust has announced that, effective immediately, the Art Deco Festival is cancelled, and all event tickets will be fully refunded.
Chair of the Art Deco Trust, Barbara Arnott says Government had given no indication yesterday that there will be any reduction in COVID Alert Level tonight.
However, given the massive logistical efforts required to stage the festival successfully at this stage, the Trust cannot wait for today’s Government decision on whether or not the Alert Levels will be extended beyond midnight Wednesday.
"That is why we had to make the decision yesterday," says Barbara.
"We needed to give certainty to the hundreds of entertainers, artists, contractors, event venues and suppliers last night so that they know where they stand. And for the sake of the thousands of festival-goers, many of whom have accommodation and travel plans booked, it was imperative we made our decision yesterday.
"This has been an incredibly tough decision and we have had to weigh up a huge number of factors and consider several different scenarios in the course of our deliberations. With heavy heart, we believe this is the only possible option, having already been forced to cancel two of the five days of events."
"We fully appreciate that many festival-goers have already arrived in town and this decision is news they did not want to hear. We know they will be incredibly disappointed. So are we."
"However, a festival of this scale is incredibly complex to put on and having already lost two of the last three days available to us to pull together all the on-the-ground logistics like staging, lighting and sound, marquees, catering and so forth, we have simply run out of time to delay our decision any longer.
"We wish we had a crystal ball to know what will happen to Alert Levels from tonight, but we don’t."
Ticket holders will be contacted directly by the Festival’s booking agents Ticketek or iTicket with details of the ticket refund process.
"Yet again, we are all reminded of the considerable impact the COVID pandemic is having on our community and our country. Overseas, people can only dream of festivals and events. That’s what has made this decision all the more challenging to make," says Barbara.
