Organisers of the Great Northern Show in Rochester have again made the difficult decision to postpone their event for the second year in a row.
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With COVID cases at an all-time-high, committee vice president Merryn Murray said it was safer to reduce the event over the February 25 and 26 weekend.
"We had a meeting last Wednesday night and a majority of the members agreed it would be difficult to go ahead," she said.
"We have a lot of older members on the committee and a lot of people just wouldn't have felt safe if we were to put the event on in full.
"It was devastating to have that conversation for a second year, but it's what needed to be done unfortunately."
Ms Murray said it wouldn't be as simple as moving the event to another weekend this year.
"Looking at the calendar year of country shows, everyone has their weekend and it would be very difficult to try and find another one later in the year," she said.
"So at this stage we will just postpone to a similar time next year."
Ms Murray said the team was still keen to keep some aspects of the show going.
"We still plan on having the horse events on that weekend," she said.
"When you look at the grand scheme of horse events, the Rochester Show is one of those that will take you to higher levels if you do well, so we didn't want people to miss out.
"We will still need to have a COVID safe plan in place for that, but it is much easier with just a smaller area and less people in one place."
She said there were also plans to have some fun for kids later in the year too.
"The committee said we wanted to try and get a few rides and show-bags back in town one weekend this year," Ms Murray said.
"It's been a tough year for everyone and we want to give the kids something to look forward to and give them a bit of joy."
The Great Northern Show committee is looking for volunteers and members to help with next year's event.
If you're interested, you can email rochester.show@gmail.com.au or message the event's Facebook page.
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