Jo Raphael: Glo Festival another victim of Covid 19

Rotorua's Glo Festival has been cancelled. Photo / Supplied

OPINION:

Not much has escaped the clutches of Covid-19 alert level restrictions and the uncertainty they bring.

Waihi College's school ball did not make the cut, with the principal saying recently that uncertainty around alert level restrictions made it untenable – saving many students and their parents the pain of spending money on something they wouldn't get any enjoyment from.

"This has been a very tough year for them with everything being postponed or cancelled and schooling being so different, many families are under stress and senior exams are looming on the horizon," principal Alistair Cochrane says.

This week's news that Rotorua's much-anticipated Glo Festival has been cancelled this year has hit home for many.

Views on the Post's Facebook page comments section have been split – some saying while it is sad, cancellations and downsizing are the new norm, while others are glad the council is not moving forward with the uncertainty of further restrictions on the horizon.

This is had a domino effect on the fringe vendors.

Val Totman and her business partner Tony Campbell normally run food trucks with doughnuts, hot dogs and shaved ice all year round, and the festival was one of their biggest earners.

"This is our fulltime business ... When we have events cancelled it really affects our income and our lifestyle,'' Totman says.

Unfortunately, event planning with Covid-19 in the background makes things all the more difficult.

Now organisers must take into account possible alert level changes and the chaos that goes with it along with other factors including weather, ticket sales and promotion.

Will it be worth the gamble booking events now?

Rotorua Lakes Council says the decision to cancel was not an easy one, however, I believe it was the only one.

"With the end of the year just three months away, and significant uncertainty still existing around New Zealand's ability to host large events as a result of Covid-19, we were left with no choice but to cancel," the council's arts and culture manager Stewart Brown says.

While the decision to can events may be the right call, one wonders what impact constant cancellations do to our collective mental health.

The joy of community connection – bumping into old friends, catching up with family - is being stifled.

Let's hope there's a vaccine soon – not only for the sake of public health but our mental health too.