All but one of the major events planned for 2020 have been postponed, rescheduled or outright cancelled, taking at least $40 million out of the local economy this year.
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According to Destination Wollongong's latest major events update on September 1, only the Thirroul Music Festival is still listed as "planning to proceed" on its original dates.
Two of the events which have been rescheduled - Wings Over the Illawarra and the Fisher Beach Party - are listed as going ahead this year with new dates in November and December.
But, with more large end-of-year events - including Convoy and the city's annual New Year's eve celebrations - now cancelled or facing major changes, it is looking less likely that large outdoor festivals will be approved by NSW Health to proceed.
Earlier this week, the organisers of Wings told the Mercury they were still in discussions with NSW Health about their COVID safety plan and whether the event would be able go ahead.
As well as leaving many event operators without income, and numerous charities without a major source of funding for this year, the almost complete wipeout of the Illawarra's major event market has left a big hole in the region's economy.
In 2018/19 major events brought in $38.83 million, and Destination Wollongong's Mark Sleigh said this year had been on track to bring in a similar amount, or possibly more.
He said it was "very frustrating" to see the major events market dry up for a whole year, especially for some events which would not be restaged in the region.
"Luckily, it's probably the tourism stream that is most easily recoverable, so in most cases we've not cancelled events, we've postponed them," he said.
He said the two biggest losses had been the Australasian Police and Emergency Services Games, which would have brought 5000 competitors and 10,000 spectators to the region over eight days in October, and the international tech festival 3 Fest.
Mr Sleigh said he would be surprised to see many large events being staged before January, but remained positive about 2021.
"So much time and effort goes into these things, that people committing to things this year are starting to be pretty nervous," he said.
"The lead time on getting these things up and running is huge, and there's also trying to get an idea of whether people are ready to return to events and spend time in a big crowd.
"On a positive note, the level of inquiry and demand far outweighs what we've seen in the past - there's no shortage of people who want to get back into the event space and who are seeing Wollongong as a good option."
He said the city's proximity to Sydney, and its spacious coastal environs would help the major event market to recover "when everyone feels safe".
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery says he would be surprised to see the return of any large scale events before mid-2021.
"In everything from New Years Eve to Aus Day, we've had to think about what we can and can't do in the COVID-19 environment," he said.
"We're projecting these public health orders out to those dates now and I can't see things altering into well into next year."
Cr Bradbery said the loss of a whole year of events was "a big hit for the region" but that it "also does show that we have diversified our economy in recent years, to have $40 million taken out just from events".
He said his main concern was the ongoing effects that the loss of jobs was having on residents, especially young people.
"These sort of things also employ a large number of people, especially young people, in tourism, events and hospitality," he said.
"And this is reflected in the youth unemployment figures for this city. So it's doubly devastating, because it's not only impacted upon the local economy, but young people are the ones most affected."
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
