Brighton Show off

THE coronavirus pandemic has claimed yet another popular Tasmanian event, with organisers cancelling the Brighton Show for this year.

Crowd capacity limits of 5000 for such outdoor events was the major reason to pull the pin on the show, which was due to be held on November 7.

The decision was made “with great sadness” after a committee meeting was held on Monday night.

Brighton Show secretary Rosie Purdon said the event, which was also cancelled last year, would typically attract about 18,000 people in preCovid times.

“The government will only allow 5000 at one time, so by the time you take out exhibitors and stallholders, plus committee and volunteers, we’re probably only looking at having 3000 through the gates,’’ she said.

“It would end up being too much of an expense that we’re not going to be able to recoup.

“We would have been majorly out of pocket and we don’t want to be in the position where we can’t run a really good show next year. We did try and push through ... our committee is very sad that we’ve had to cancel, but there was no other way.”

Mrs Purdon said the focus would now turn to making the 2022 show bigger and better, though the committee would still try to run some show events virtually this year.

She said the show had been running for 86 years.

“The community is pretty devastated, but most are understanding and know the position that we’re in,’’ she said.

The Royal Hobart Show is pressing on with plans to run its event in late October, but is facing similar challenges regarding crowd numbers.

Under current Public Health guidelines, the maximum number of people allowed at outdoor events with people freely moving and mixing is 5000.

Outdoor events where people are seated can have a maximum of 10,000, subject to approval by health authorities, including the submission of a Covid-19 safety plan.