THE Heathcote Food and Wine Festival has been cancelled for the second year in a row as committee members fear further COVID-19 lockdowns.
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The event, which was originally set to be held on the weekend of October 2 and 3, joins a long list of other local events that have called it quits this year.
Heathcote Winegrowers Association president Ian Hopkins said members and stallholders had been considering their next steps for the past few weeks.
"We would have to spend more than $50,000 to book and get this event up and running," he said.
"Our deadline on making that decision was getting closer and closer and we had to make the call.
"We can't afford to lose that kind of money if were to go into lockdown or cancel last minute."
Mr Hopkins said it was a "heartbreaking decision" to make two years in a row.
"We have more than 40 wineries and cellar doors on a usual year, not to mention all the food and smaller stallholders that come too," he said.
"It doesn't just effect us, there are so many businesses that suffer, but we needed to do the right thing."
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He said the COVID-safe rules would also make the event difficult to run.
"If we were to have the event, we would have to restrict numbers, keep socially distanced and limit the amount of people able to be at each stall," he said.
"It would just make things harder than they need to be."
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But Mr Hopkins said festival fans may not have to miss out.
"We're working on putting together a reasonable event to take the festival's place that weekend," he said.
"While we're not exactly sure what it will look like at this stage, we're hoping to still have some of our stallholders there in some capacity."
You can stay up to date on the Heathcote Food and Wine Festival's Facebook page.
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