Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp has revealed that next month’s Moomba festival will be downsized, with no parade or Birdman Rally (it’s the first time since 1999 that the competition will not be held). Under the new COVID-safe plans, Moomba events will be ticketed, with timed sessions for watching shows and using rides at the normal Alexendra Gardens site. The council is proposing a capacity of up to 4500 patrons, with three, four-hour sessions spread across each day.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/how-covid-restrictions-have-brought-big-changes-to-moomba/news-story/083a952c22fd1018c585b074623859a4
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That seems like a logical and reasonable approach. I’m glad that they can still find that safer middle ground to allow these events to keep running.
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This is what Melbourne needs. Good to hear this event is going ahead.
Melbourne’s ANZAC Day march in the city has been cancelled this year.
That’s two years in a row that the Anzac Day march in Melbourne has been cancelled. What are the veterans going to do to commemorate?
Dawn services are still scheduled to go ahead, only the marches have been cancelled.
But I agree, surely a plan could’ve been put together to make the event covid-safe, cap the crowd numbers etc.
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Includes some angry reactions from veterans and their relatives.
Maybe veterans could organise their own dawn service at the shrine, before or after Anzac Day. For example, the crowd at dawn service can be split into groups of 100 or less, each group located at different parts of the precinct with its own COVID marshal.
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Angry reactions?
There’s a global pandemic. How many of those elderly veterans lives would be risked unnecessarily by ignoring COVID-19?
Plus before Howard amped it up as some sort of nationalistic day, ANZAC Day wasn’t big; Remembrance Day has traditionally been the day to commemorate all those who suffered and died in war.
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Pretty much this.
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When last year’s Anzac Day marches around the country was cancelled, many of us thought “OK, it’s disappointing, we are in the middle of the pandemic, let’s hope it will be back next year”.
The fact that Melbourne’s Anzac Day march will not go ahead for two consecutive years should be a concern.
I am not suggesting that elderly veterans should march in the city on the day. It can be a symbolic, silent march with army cadets and teenagers holding the large banners of various divisions of the army, navy and air force. Veterans can do their own commemorations in their own suburbs if they wish.
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Obviously the RSL have put it in the too hard basket. Odd considering how well organised it is each year.
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Complete and utter hyperbole / fearmongering.
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Would u let your grandfather March in a anza pafade during a pandemic.? I doubt it.
Be reasonable you seem to be arguing against any sort of effort to curb the spread of COVID 19.
Maybe dawn services can go live through zoom or.something? Protecting the elderly should be taken seriously.
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Okay So let your grandfather go into the city in a pandemic for anzax day and contract covid19. You seem to want to sacrifice peoples lives.
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I agree with @JohnsonTV on this one.
Taking the Holiday Inn cluster out of the equation for a minute, Victoria has currently been doing a great job at keeping community transmission levels extremely low in the state.
What is the justification for not letting Anzac Day marches to proceed? The risk of infection seems extremely low.
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But who says it’s not allowed to proceed? The RSL who conduct it have decided not to hold it. Quite different to nowt being allowed.
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I am really sorry if I use hyperbole.
Last year’s successful hosting of the Christmas Pageant at Adelaide Oval, and next month’s Mardi Gras Parade at the SCG shows it’s possible to host a lite version of a parade-style event in a controlled environment, something the RSL should have considered.
This morning’s cancellation of the Melbourne parade is another example of lack of communication between RSL executive and its members. It followed the controversy a couple of years ago when it banned descendants of elderly veterans to participate in the march.
Given COVID-19 will still be with us for a while, maybe the RSL should conduct a survey of its members to see how Anzac Day should be commemorated in the near future.
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(Moonee) Valley’s Friday night meeting will be run as planned, but without crowds, while the gates will almost certainly be closed for Black Caviar Lightning Stakes day at Flemington.
It’s a significant blow for the Victoria Racing Club, who had plans to have 15,000 people on course for Saturday’s Group 1 meeting.
Hopefully the Logies can go ahead this year.
The World Solar Challenge, which sees solar-powered vehicles from around the world travelling from Darwin to Adelaide, has been cancelled for the second year in a row due to travel restrictions.
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