ANOTHER local event has fallen victim to the current coronavirus outbreak with the Branxholme Rodeo officially scrapped for 2022.
The event, which was locked in for February 12, attracts plenty of local cowboys and spectators, but committee member, Leonie Bell said it was a necessary decision to make in these unprecedented times.
“It is really disappointing, it was a difficult decision after a lot of consideration,” she said.
“It is very disappointing after all the hard work, it has taken us 10 months to get to this point then it has gone
“We didn’t make the decision lightly, but given the state of covid and transmission in our community, it is just not viable.”
With the rodeo circuit jam-packed for much of the year, the chances of running the event at a later date wasn’t considered.
With the size of the event, the timing also impacted the decision to cancel the event to give people plenty of warning.
“It is a big event and we have a lot of volunteers, we can’t just change the date and unfortunately we have had to make the tough decision,” Bell said.
“We were going to wait what the next couple of weeks brought, but it just wasn’t worth the risk.
“It is the best decision for the health and safety for everyone involved, it was building up to be a huge one this year after not having one in 2021, so hopefully next year is even bigger.”
The event had embraced online ticket sales for the first time and had already sold “a few hundred” in recent weeks.
“We had everything in progress and we were just excited for it, then bam,” Bell said.
“There is a financial deficit, we have so much to support from the community but there is that financial outlay that you can’t get back in certain areas.
“The committee had been discussing it for the past week, watching it day by day and we finally came together and made the decision on Wednesday.
“Even with what has happened, I just want to say a huge thanks to our sponsors and volunteers for all the effort they have put in to get us to this point.”
It is the second year the Branxholme Rodeo has not gone ahead, after the pandemic prevented the 2021 event from going ahead.
