The well-being of the community, the impact COVID-19 has had on the economy and organisation challenges due to the pandemic have been cited as some of the reasons Newcastle Pride has cancelled its 2020 festival, which was due to be staged in August.
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Organisers said planning for the festival had been well underway for the past seven months but with the uncertainty surrounding the duration of the pandemic, they felt cancelling the event was the right decision.
"It is extremely regrettable that we have had to make this decision. The growth shown by the Newcastle Pride Festival between 2018 and 2019 has been phenomenal and beyond our wildest beliefs, however we feel this is the right decision given the uncertain times we're in," Newcastle Pride president Lee-Anne McDougall said.
"It wouldn't be fair to our community for the 2020 festival not to live up to the bold expectations we have set for ourselves within the community.
"But this isn't the end of Newcastle Pride, nor the Newcastle Pride Festival - we will be back, bigger, bolder and prouder than ever."
McDougall added that the committee is looking at ways to keep the pride community engaged during this time and are already looking into events that can be held "the second the COVID-19 pandemic is finished - whenever that may be".
Newcastle Pride Festival is set to return in August 2021.
The festival committee said there were several factors that contributed to the decision to cancel this year's event including:
The well-being of the community: Due to the ever-changing and uncertain factors surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the committee feels that it is in the best interests of the community that these large-scale events do not take place at this time.
The Australian economy: We know that times are hard financially for Australian businesses as well as everyday Australians. Several of Newcastle Pride's financial supporters are local small businesses who are feeling the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Newcastle Pride Festival 2020 would not be possible without the help of our generous supporters. Equally as important, we know a lot of members of our community are out of work and are under immense financial strain. While the Newcastle Pride Festival 2020 has a number of free events included in the program, we know it would be tough to expect people to purchase tickets to the number ticketed events.
The lead time into the 2020 festival: The Newcastle Pride Committee has been planning the Festival since August 2019; however, a lot of the planning has been put on hold due the uncertainty surrounding the length of the COVID-19 pandemic. Newcastle Pride feels it would be unfair to the community to hold a substandard Festival in 2020 after the major success of the 2018 and 2019 Festivals.