The Camden Haven Chamber has made the difficult decision to postpone the Camden Haven Festival, which had been planned for Saturday 3 October, to coincide with the Long Weekend and rescheduled ArtWalk event.

The festival had originally been planned for July 2020 as a bushfire recovery project but was postponed to October at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Camden Haven Chamber of Commerce president Stuart Bate said that the joint decision by the festival working group and Chamber committee  had not been easy however had ultimately been a matter of community safety.

“The Chamber and the festival Working Group are eager to present this exciting new event for the Camden Haven community but unfortunately due to ongoing concerns regarding the pandemic including the potential impact on community resources and local businesses, it has been decided not to proceed with the event in October,” Mr Bate said.

“With COVID-19 restrictions in place and the possibility of increased social distancing measures as well as a resurgence in cases, it seemed counterintuitive  to host a large community event and encourage the convergence of large groups.”

“The working group has been working hard to plan a wonderful interactive festival for our community to celebrate and enjoy all that our region has to offer, but we felt that the COVID restrictions were going to limit the community’s ability to truly participate in and enjoy the festival as originally intended.”

The Chamber is expecting to make an announcement regarding the revised event date by the end of August.

The Camden Haven Festival is supported through a $10,000 grant from the NSW Government’s $1 Million Regional Event Fund as well as an additional $30,000 from the NSW Government in association with Port Macquarie-Hastings Council as a part of the Disaster Recovery Funding allocation.