After a successful inaugural hit out in February this year the September iteration of City of Newcastle’s (CoN) New Annual Festival has been scrapped.
The decision to postpone the festival, scheduled to run from Friday 24 September to Sunday 3 October, to September 2022, was due to the ongoing COVID-19 cases in Greater Sydney and the Hunter Region and associated concerns around artist availability, public health and restrictions.
“The decision to not go ahead with New Annual this September has been made with our community’s safety in mind,” CoN’s acting director of Strategy and Engagement Kathleen Hyland said.
“Following on from the success of our inaugural event in February, our team was in the midst of planning a New Annual that would take the festival to the next level with an outstanding program of events and performances, including new acts and new locations that would bring our city to life.
“But with headline artists coming from across Australia, and New Annual’s audience being drawn from far and wide, the current COVID environment means it is no longer appropriate, or possible, to deliver the kind of event we envisaged.”
This is the second time the pandemic has affected plans for New Annual, with the inaugural festival postponed in September 2020 before being delivered in February 2021 with a comprehensive range of COVID Safe measures in place.
Despite the scheduling hiccup, the event was hailed as a resounding success attracting more than 30,000 to 50-plus events and activities across the city.
Speaking after the February festival Mitchell Reese from Curious Legends said the festival provided the perfect. forum to showcase Newcastle’s creativity.
“Being a part of the festival not only meant work for our artists – many of which were struggling with the economic effects of COVID – but also a highly visible platform for our work to be showcased,” he said.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said that while the postponement was disappointing, the 2022 festival would definitely be one to look forward to.
“City of Newcastle is committed to seeing New Annual grow into a landmark cultural festival on Australia’s annual events calendar and we look forward to seeing it return bigger and better in 2022,” Cr Nelmes said.
She added that CoN was currently exploring opportunities to engage some of the artists, who were scheduled to appear at New Annual, to deliver their works as part of programming for other events such as New Year’s Eve, public health orders permitting.
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