Organisers pull pin on Airlie’s signature music festival

A MASSIVE event on Whitsunday musicians’ calendars has been officially cancelled following months of uncertainty because of coronavirus.

It was announced this morning that the 2020 instalment of the Airlie Beach Festival of Music would not go ahead.

A statement on the Airlie Beach Festival of Music website says the “team are saddened to announce that the 2020 festival has been cancelled due to the ongoing effects of COVID-19”.

“Although the festival team have been looking into ways to produce a COVIDsafe event, with the rising cases of coronavirus in Victoria there are now too many uncertainties for the event to go ahead,” the statement read.

“It is clear that physical distancing regulations and restrictions on public gatherings are here for the foreseeable future and, along with growing travel restrictions, this has created a very difficult and unknown environment for planning.

“The 2019 event drew 3500 people to the Whitsundays with over a quarter of these from interstate.”

The event was scheduled to take place from November 6 to 8.

The statement also included a comment from the festival’s founder Gavin Butlin who said he was very disappointed to have to make the announcement.

“We need to put the health, safety and wellbeing of our artists and the community first,” he said in the statement.

The 2021 event is still set to go ahead from November 5 to November 7 and “will be back bigger and better than ever”, according to the festival’s Facebook page.

All online ticket purchases for the 2020 festival will be automatically refunded.

Source: Whitsunday Times