Illawarra event planners try to keep spirits high as time, money washes away

Constant deluges since the beginning of April have led to multiple weekend events being cancelled, postponed or downsized, resulting in major financial hits.

Comic Gong and the Great Wani Fete went ahead on the rain-drenched Saturday just gone, but both were forced indoors and significantly scaled back.

A year of planning had gone into the fete, a major fundraiser for Waniora Public School and its first in six years due to COVID-19.

Everything was ready and a buzz was building around the Bulli event when advice from the SES and a directive from the Department of Education meant the P&C had to cancel the carnival rides and fireworks at the 11th hour due to a severe weather warning.

Local mum Kat Harris said parents met to discuss whether they should call the whole thing off but valiantly decided to move the fete undercover instead.

"There was this general consensus of, 'look, let's just do it. It's been raining for long enough that people are sick of being inside and they want to go out'.

"We were like, 'it'll be in the rain and it'll be what it is. There'll be less people, but we put in all this hard work'."

After taping protective covers over the classroom carpets, moving everything undercover and convincing food vendors to brave the conditions, the school had a "wet but wonderful" day with a solid turnout.

Yet there's no doubt the bad weather dampened their fundraising efforts.

"We're estimating it would be like half of what we could have brought in, which is pretty sad," Ms Harris said.

Wollongong City Council said early estimates showed close to 9000 people visited at least one of Comic Gong's three indoor venues, down from the 10,000-plus people they were expecting.

Further south, Shellharbour's mega-popular Enchanted Forest light show had to be pushed back a week because of the drenched ground at Blackbutt Forest.

But perhaps the biggest upsets happened in the Southern Highlands.

Organisers of the Robertson Potato Festival decided against cancelling amid inclement weather on May 4 and 5.

Instead, in an unprecedented move, they waived the entry fee in a bid to entice visitors to the rainy-day event, with any money collected donated to the Rural Fire Service.

But not everyone was happy with the contingency plan, particularly those who had already forked out money for their tickets.

"Although free entry is a wonderful idea, I feel ripped off that we paid $25 each to attend festival," one man wrote.

"... We're trying to make the most of the situation and do the right thing by the small businesses involved in the event ..." the festival organisers responded.

"We're obviously all gutted about the weather and we will be by far the biggest financial loser out of this with advertising, bands, AV, furniture, marquees, staff to name a few - none of which will be refunded because of weather."

The not-for-profit behind Brigadoon felt their pain.

Alaistair Saunders, vice-president of Bundanoon Highland Gathering Inc, remembers feeling hopeful as he inspected the oval the day before the big event.

After days of rain, the ground was soggy but not unusable and it appeared the much-loved Scottish gathering would go ahead as planned on Saturday, April 6.

Then it poured for almost three hours straight, leaving the field waterlogged, slippery and potentially dangerous.

"It was heartbreaking," Mr Saunders said.

"You've done 12 months planning to get to this point, and then you've got to turn around and say 'no, we can't go ahead because we can't put people's lives at risk'."

Devastated members of the committee instructed workers to remove the tents and toilets that had already been set up, and notified participants and the public - some of whom were already en route to Bundanoon - that the festival had been postponed.

Mr Saunders said he had yet to learn the exact cost of April's cancellation but believed it to be a "highly significant deficit".

"Just take into consideration all the tents, the toilets, the sound system," he said.

"I mean, just those three alone, they run into at least $20,000 or $30,000.

"We have TV, radio and newspaper advertising, we have programmes printed, we have flyers printed.

"The list goes on and these people have got to be paid, it's as simple as that.

"And don't forget the personal cost to those stall holders who have had to stock up for the event."

The 20-odd volunteers on the Brigadoon committee - who have locked in August 3 as the new date and offered ticket-holders a refund or a rollover - have suffered similar disappointments in the past.

Since 2020, the group has had to cancel the highlands festival five times as a result of COVID and adverse weather conditions.

But this year's non-event has hit different and proved harder to move on from.

Certainly the committee would welcome new members to help carry the load.

"The general feeling is of dismay, it's quite disheartening that all the hard work for a year has suddenly been lost," Mr Saunders said.

"There has been a great deal of hard work and preparation to organise an event as big as Brigadoon and now we have to carry that forward to the new date and at the same time think about the next Brigadoon on 5 April 2025."

Brigadoon 2024 will take place on August 3 in Bundanoon.