Large events in Townsville to be postponed or cancelled in response to COVID-19
Date published: 17 March 2020
Townsville City Council is advancing preparations to slow the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) by postponing and cancelling local events.
The decision comes on the back of the advice from the Federal Government for non-essential mass gatherings of over 500 people to be cancelled.
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said the safety of the community and Council employees was the number one consideration when making the decision around events.
“We will be postponing Council events wherever possible and for those that we can, we will be bringing them back bigger and better at a later date,” Cr Hill said.
“We are also in conversation with other community groups and event organisers about any bookings in Council venues and the direction they wish to take.
“While it is disappointing to have community events cancelled, the most important thing right now is to support Queensland Health in slowing the spread of this virus.
“We’ve pulled through challenging times before and we will do it again, we are a resilient community.”
Council will continue to review upcoming events and take the advice of the State and Federal Governments as the lead agencies in this response.
“We will keep in close contact with event hosts and make sure that residents receive the most up-to-date information.”
Impacted events include performances being held in Council venues such as the Civic Theatre, public markets, sports festivals, expos and community events such as Townsville Eats.
Cr Hill said while it wasn’t ideal, the direction of the Federal Government to cancel events and gatherings of more than 500 people was an important move to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the community.
“Council’s priority during this time is providing essential services to our residents and supporting our health services to slow this down. We want our health providers to be well positioned to deal with COVID-19 and other health emergencies in our community over the coming months.”
“The most important thing we can do as a community is follow the advice of Queensland Health to protect our most vulnerable.”
A list of impacted Council events can be found below.
March
- Riverway Movie Night
- Recycling Open Day
- Townsville Eats
- Kinky Boots
April
- 1RAR Morning Melodies
- Riverway Movie Night
- Townsville Eats
- Townsville Youth Week Event
- Footloose
- Moscow Ballet – Sleeping Beauty
- Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow
May
- Battle of Coral Sea
- Riverway Movie Night
- Welcoming Babies
- Townsville Eats
This will be updated as more advice is provided by the Federal and State Governments.
