COVID-19 snuffs out country show fever

The Royal Adelaide Show's announcement earlier this month has led to a domino effect with many show committees fearful that the ban on large gatherings will continue well into spring. They also do not want to put their volunteers at risk.

Other shows are expected to make a decision in the coming month or so with some hopeful of still holding an event to bring their local community together.

SA Country Shows president Francis Andrews said individual shows had to weigh up their options depending on their financial position and show dates but would need to follow the rules in place by state and federal governments at the time.

He said it was a big blow many shows had to cancel for the first time since World War II, but encouraged show committees to "think outside the square".

"Shows are a great community event and holding a show creates income into these communities which will be greatly missed," he said.

Coonalpyn Show was still nearly five months away but secretary Nadene Jericho said there had been overwhelming committee support for the decision to cancel their 2020 show.

"It is a 12 month job even to put on a small show like ours so by making the decision now there will be less work done that we have to undo later," she said.

"We were seeking advertising for our show book but we didn't feel we could take money from businesses when we didn't know if we would be printing a book."

Ms Jericho said even if restrictions were lifted there was no guarantee people would be willing to attend with history showing after the 1919 Spanish flu pandemic many people were cautious for months.

"Our area is only 200 people but we get 900 at the show from all over so we depend on people to travel for our crowd," she said.

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But at Crystal Brook Show, the committee is holding out hope with preparations continuing for their August 8 show.

Show president Ashley Redden said they could "go either way" depending on how quickly restrictions were relaxed but were aiming to at least hold their schools' livestock handling day on the eve of the show and a smaller show.

"Financially for the committee it would knock us around pretty hard not having a show," he said.

"We are pretty sure we can leave the decision to five or six weeks before and still put on a good show."

It will be the first time since the Rural Ambassador awards were established more than 20 years ago that no state final will be held, with those qualified to compete in 2021.

The SA Country Shows-run rich fruit cake, genoa cake and scone competition state finals, normally held at the Royal Adelaide Show, have also been suspended until 2021.

The National Young Judges competition, which was to be held in New Zealand in October, has been rescheduled with the 2019 SA winners now to vie for the national title at the 2021 Ekka in Brisbane.

A BIG hole has been left in the October long weekend for many on the Fleurieu Peninsula and further afield with the Strathalbyn Show Society making the difficult decision last week to cancel its 150^th annual show.

Show president Rex Liebelt says they had big plans to make the milestone show "the best yet" with entertainment booked and even a move to a new venue, but they are now looking ahead to 2021.

He said it was a "great disappointment" cancel the event which attracts about 5000 people each year, but uncertainty around what social distancing and crowd restrictions may look like in coming months made it impossible to progress their plans.

Once the Royal made the decision Mr Liebelt said they felt they had to make the same decision, also postponing a commemorative dinner for August.

"So many great local businesses sponsor our show but some are not even open, we couldn't really expect them to sponsor us this year," he said.

'We understand it is a really difficult time with many people not working too and without good numbers through the gate it is not viable to hold a show.

"Our focus is now on having a really good show in 2021."