Recent cancellations of spring shows could be followed by many more in the coming weeks.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Junee Show Society on Sunday announced the 2020 event, scheduled for late October would not be going ahead.
It comes after the Ganman Show Society announced the cancellation of their August event last week.
Junee Show Society president Peter Commens said with no way to tell for sure what the restrictions around mass gatherings would be come October, the committee unanimously decided to "bite the bullet" and officially call it off until 2021.
"There's too many uncertainties, we don't know when restrictions for large crowds are going to be lifted, and it costs a lot to put a show on and it takes a lot of time to get it ready," Mr Commens said.
"We normally would've started probably in April, to start getting letters to sponsors and advertisers and to start to do a little bit to keep the ground under control and none of that had been done, we just put that on hold because things were too uncertain."
He said the Junee Show could see around 1500 - 2000 attendees at once, and it was hard to see the government allowing more than a few hundred people to attend such an event this year which would not be viable for them.
READ MORE:
Mr Commens said while it would be great to see restrictions lifted by them, the society would be risking the viability of shows for years to come if they began spending to set up a show that may not be allowed to proceed.
"We felt we had to make a call somewhere, and why not make a call before we start spending money," he said.
Mr Commens said he expected many other country shows traditionally held in spring would be announcing cancellations in the coming weeks.
"I will personally be very surprised if there are any shows held in the country between now and next year," he said.
An official decision has not yet been made on Wagga's September event, but the Wagga Show committee will meet this Thursday to determine how long it will wait before deciding if the event will go ahead.
Down the road, the Illabo Show Society is forging ahead with plans to mark its 100th show on October 10 this year.
