It is with great sadness that the Woodend Winter Arts Festival Committee announces that the 2020 festival will be postponed as a result of the very real practical challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the impacts we are currently feeling here in Australia.
The festival was scheduled to take place as usual over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend (5 – 8 June 2020), and the program scheduling was complete. We were planning to announce the line up later this month.
We understand that regular festival attendees and locals will be disappointed, and that this is especially difficult for the artists we have engaged to perform and present; this festival has always been about creating opportunities for artists and performers to be paid for their work.
To that end, we are in the process of working with all those committed to the program to find a new date later in 2020 in the hope that the virus will have been contained and ordinary life has resumed.
If we can, we will reschedule the festival. If we are not in a position to reschedule, we will cancel for 2020 and be back bigger and stronger in 2021. We hope you will be there for us.
This has been a difficult decision, but we must prioritise the health and well-being of everyone involved and balance the commercial reality that we simply cannot afford to sell tickets at the level we would need to remain sustainable, and expect our sponsors to commit to our program, in this uncertain environment.
We will do everything we can to bring the festival to you in 2020 and thank you for your patience and understanding.
– Woodend Winter Arts Festival Committee
