Words by Kylie Knight
Organisers of Abbey Medieval Festival have cancelled this year’s event, following today’s COVID-19 lockdown announcement, and need your support.
The Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology board announced the event’s cancellation in a statement online this afternoon.
“The announcement of the three-day lockdown by the Queensland Government has impacted on our ability to adequately prepare for the festival,” the statement said.
“Those preparations include infrastructure on the site and the travel/setup plans of the reenactors and volunteers.
“The festival is the major fundraiser for the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology and the decision to cancel it has come at a significant financial cost. With the health and wellbeing of the community at stake, and the government restrictions in place, it was the only prudent course of action we could take.”
Abbey Museum of Art & Archaeology director Edith Cuffe says the lockdown took the decision out of their hands.
“It was heart-wrenching to realise all the work we had put in over the last 10 days was for nothing,” Edith says.
“It is a terrible blow for the Museum to have to cancel the festival two years running. Our financial loss is significant, and we will need to look at how we can mitigate the impact.
“The sustainability and future of the Museum and the Festival is in the balance and we will need external help and support if we are to keep the Museum viable and build towards a festival in 2022.”
What to do with your tickets
Organisers will begin processing refunds to ticketholders as soon as possible, but are hoping many will choose to donate the ticket amount to the museum as some did follow the cancellation of last year’s event.
An Abbey Medieval Festival Relief Fund has been set up and aims to raise $350,000. If you would like to make a donation, visit the website
Edith would also love locals and visitors to support the museum by visiting once the lockdown is over or by buying items from the online shop.
For more COVID-19 news, head here
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