The Griffith Spring Fest Working Group and the Griffith Tourism Team have made the tough decision to cancel Griffith Spring Fest, Griffith's flagship festival, for 2021 due to the rising concerns around COVID-19 in NSW.
Chair of the Griffith Spring Fest Working Group, Councillor Rina Mercuri said, "We are obviously very disappointed that we can't deliver Griffith Spring Fest and the events that fall within it for the second year in a row, we feel this is the right decision to protect our community."
"We have had many conversations with our event stakeholders and unfortunately with the most recent trends of COVID-19 in NSW and Victoria, everyone was in agreement that the festival be cancelled.
"Griffith Spring Fest attracts thousands of visitors to our town throughout the two weeks in October and we can't risk having people come to town without us being able to control where people come from."
In 2019, Griffith Spring Fest had an estimated attendance of over 15,000 people with 45% of them from out of Griffith, staying an average of three nights. The Real Juice Company Citrus Sculptures alone, had more than 9,000 people move through the display, while the Open Gardens had over 5,000.
"We had hoped that we would be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Griffith Garden Festival, and the 25th anniversary of the Real Juice Company Citrus Sculptures, that was originally planned for 2020, however we are hoping that in 2022, we can bring everyone together again to create a special occasion and celebrate Griffith at its best," said Councillor Mercuri.
Although no plans have been made to showcase Griffith Spring Fest like last year's online festival, the Griffith Tourism Team are discussing options moving forward and will release information on this when they can.
To keep up to date with Griffith Spring Fest, follow the Facebook page's @GriffithSpringFest and @VisitGriffith. You can also still view some of last year's online festival features at www.griffithspringfest.com.au.
