It will be interesting to see what happens with the Australian Open. It’s unlikely that players will be so willing to Quarantine again this year. My guess is that it will be pushed to the Feb date again in hope that by this point, we will have enough of the population vaccinated to be able to allow vaccinated players into the country without needing a full 2 weeks.
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From today’s Herald Sun:
Whilst we all understand that the Victorian Government are trying to prevent the spread of coronavirus, it would be incredibly upsetting to see Melbourne lose these events on a more permanent scale.
Most of these listed events happened in 2020 or the first half of 2021. Big events being cancelled or moved is not unique to Melbourne in the last year… It happened almost everywhere worldwide.
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The Royal Darwin Show has been confirmed to go ahead as planned this year on July 22-24, but with COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing measures in place. The event was cancelled last year due to the pandemic.
While our federal government muck around on ineffective ad campaigns (I’d already completely forgotten and had to be reminded about the band-aid ads they rolled out last week), the Victorian arts sector, led by the MSO, has put out an ad that puts a much more effective vaccination message. It’s not “graphic” but not bland and insipid, either.
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The week-long COVID lockdown in South Australia, which started at 6pm tonight, means there will be no horse racing, greyhound racing or harness racing in the state during the period.
https://www.racenet.com.au/news/covid-lockdown-in-south-australia-has-struck-with-racing-shut-down-20210720
Also, the Suncorp Super Netball has moved its hub from Adelaide to Brisbane. Thunderbirds, Vixens, Magpies and Swifts flew out of Adelaide last night, and will be joined by Fever in Brisbane today, but Giants players and coaches were left behind after being linked to exposure sites in Melbourne.
UPDATE: Giants were cleared to fly to Brisbane today after the Victorian and Queensland governments confirmed the players didn’t visit exposure site while in Melbourne.
COVID-19 has forced the cancellation of Opera Australia’s upcoming seasons of Phantom of the Opera, but OA is scrambling to reschedule them sometime in 2022. Plans for a production of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle, set to open at Brisbane’s Queensland Performing Arts Centre this October, are still in place.
The popular Gympie Music Muster has been cancelled for the second year in a row due to COVID-19 and associated state border closures.
The netball has now been cancelled this weekend, but they hope to be resume mid next week.
Run for the Kids was postponed to late August to give the event a better chance to be held. Disappointed that it has to be cancelled one month out. The organisers have given the entrants the option to donate their entry fee, so it should still raise some money for the Good Friday Appeal.
For the second year running, The Royal Melbourne Show has been cancelled.
From what I read from the press release, it looks like there won’t be a virtual version of Royal Melbourne Show this year, similar to what occurred in 2020 during Melbourne’s second lockdown.
Despite the recent one-week lockdown in South Australia, the organisers of Royal Adelaide Show are pressing ahead with plans for the 2021 version, to be held in early September.
The Ekka is back next month - titled The Comeback Ekka.
The COVID protocols included reducing attendance numbers will all attendees needing to book online only. There will be no tickets available at the gate so that daily crowd numbers can be monitored.
The RNA is delighted to be able to bring the country and the city together again at this year’s comeback Ekka.
After its historic cancellation last year due to the pandemic, the People’s Show is back and we have planned a COVID Safe event for the community to enjoy.
Since last year the RNA has been working closely with Queensland Health and there are a series of measures we will introduce this year to ensure the people of Queensland come back together safely.
These include:
- Capped daily numbers
- Online tickets only
- Real time crowd monitoring – indoor pavilions
- Roving COVID Safe Marshalls
- Increased hygiene and cleaning measures
- High touch areas – round the clock cleaning by Hygiene Officers
More than 70 per cent of Ekka is outdoors, from our main arena to baby animal nursery, sideshow alley, kids’ carnival areas and many competition venues, which are not subject to the indoor number restrictions.
The biggest change at Ekka this year will be how people can buy their admission tickets – YOU MUST BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE. There will be no tickets on sale at the gate. To ensure we manage our capped daily numbers, the public must nominate the day they wish to come to the show and disclose full details for contact tracing.
The RNA will always act in the best interests of public health, which has been our top priority in planning this comeback Ekka. It is also up to the community to do the right thing too so if you are feeling unwell and displaying COVID-like symptoms please don’t come to Ekka.
Queen Victoria Market’s Winter Night Market has also been canceled.
For the second year in a row The Ekka has been cancelled. This year it was just in time to stop lots of travel to Brisbane from the regional area. It had been due to go ahead with lower numbers per day and on-line ticketing only.
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Greyhound NSW today announced that the 2021 TAB Million Dollar Chase series has been postponed to May-June 2022, due to COVID situation and uncertainty around lockdowns in the state. The series was scheduled to begin on Saturday, August 14 at Dubbo and culminate on September 25 with the world’s richest greyhound race.
The Birdsville races, scheduled for this September, has also been postponed to April 2022.
AFL announce the Grand Final Parade has been cancelled.