Organisers of the 2021 NZ Cider Festival have postponed the event until February 2022 due to the uncertainty of the Delta variant of COVID-19.
In a statement to sponsors and supporters of festival, Jody Scott – Chairman of the Fruit Wine & Cider Makers Association and Shelley Haring – NZ Cider Festival Manager, say they are extremely disappointed to announce the postponement.
“Due to the ongoing uncertainty and risks associated with the Delta variant of COVID-19, the Cider Festival team and FWCM Association have made the difficult decision to postpone the 2021 NZ Cider Festival until Saturday, 12th February 2022.”
The venue for the new date remains the same – Tomoana Showgrounds, Hawke’s Bay.
“Whilst parts of New Zealand may move into a Level 1 status over the coming weeks and allow larger gatherings, we cannot predict when this will be,” says the statement.
“With the festival being so close, this uncertainty makes it difficult to plan ahead to ensure there is no impact for our event, our cider producers, our sponsors, suppliers and our attendees.
“We are following the Government announcements closely in regards to a vaccine passport requirement for people to be able to attend festivals and events over the summer.
“While this is a positive development towards allowing our festival to go ahead, we are still awaiting official information from the Government on how this will be managed and what will be required upon entry to the festival site.”
The 2021 Annual Fruit Wine & Cider Awards and also the Association AGM will still take place as planned, on Friday, November 12th 2021, in Napier.
Further details on the AGM & Awards night will be released soon.
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