THE recent cancellation of Harrow’s iconic ‘Tussock Jumpers’ BnS (Bachelors and Spinsters) Ball may be an indication of the difficulties rural event organisers will face in coming years to stage anything that involves crowds and the associated risks that come with that.

After two years of many cancellations of shows due to lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions, the region had to cope with the weather and record rainfall for spring also rendering many events a ‘no go’.

But now it seems insurance is becoming the next major hurdle, with premiums rising steeply and organisers being unable to secure a price that would still make an event worth running.

For Harrow BnS Ball committee treasurer, Paul Penrose, pulling the pin on the annual January experience was regrettable and disappointing, but it simply wasn’t financially feasible to accommodate the bill that their broker had quoted.

“I think there needs to be more marketability in the insurance, but I can’t see how that’s going to happen,” he said.

“We might be running it just to pay the insurance, that would be the hard bit. Would the committee be happy doing that? I’m not sure.”

Harrow was not the only town with a cloud hanging over the future of its BnS Ball, as Mr Penrose said he knew the pinch was being felt with other similar events too.

“The insurances are probably the most prohibitive (reason), I suppose,” he said.

“According to our broker, there’s only one player in the field.

“(They can) name their price and also decide at the eleventh hour after they’ve agreed to it, ‘no, no, we won’t do it’.”

A downside wasn’t just denying an opportunity for partygoers to gather, Mr Penrose said the town itself usually benefitted financially from the celebration with money raised going to multiple worthy causes such as development of the Johnny Mullagh Recreation Reserve, the Horsemanship Challenge, the Harrow-Balmoral Football Netball Club, the local Bush Nursing Centres and the town hall.

An option he said was on the table to have a daytime black-tie event, but again, insurance was set to be an obstacle to overcome, with insurers often not wanting to deal with relatively small events.

“Twelve months ago I talked to the broker and said, ‘what if we limited it to a smaller crowd?’ – I did suggest a black-tie dinner, even a limited crowd of two to 300 people, full sit-down meal,” Mr Penrose said.

“But he said the insurance company was more prepared to take on a 5000-person event than a 200 or 500 people event.”

In the meantime, he was watching to see if another Western Victoria BnS ‘Lava Blast’ goes ahead at Dundonnell on April 1 to assess how to move forward, as he was in close contact with one of the organisers, who was indicating it was unlikely to run, despite demand.

“These events are popular,” Mr Penrose said.

“We’d have to wait to see if the event, which was in April, does not go ahead – that’s only a couple of months away now.”