All Hervey Bay Whale Festival events have been postponed due to the developing Covid situation in South-East Queensland.

The Blessing of the Fleet and Whale Parade and Concert were called off on Saturday and this morning Fraser Coast Tourism & Events announced the postponement of this weekend's Seafood Festival.

A plan to reschedule all events is being developed but will depend on the timing of the current Covid outbreak coming under control.

Apart from the health threat to the Fraser Coast as the closest northern region to those local government areas in lockdown, many suppliers for the Seafood Festival were resident in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast and are grounded by the lockdown extension until this Sunday [08.08.2021]. Their non-participation would have detracted from the event.

In announcing the postponement of the Seafood Festival, FCTE general manager Martin Simons said that 30% of pre-gate sales are from out of region, mostly South-East Queensland.

“By postponing we give these people the opportunity to come when it is safe. 

“Given the traffic on the highway travelling north after the lock-down announcement on Saturday, we do not think it is wise to be staging large events or encouraging further travel,” he said.

Traffic was bumper-to-bumper around Gympie on Saturday afternoon and FCTE had received reports that it was taking eight hours to travel the 260km from Brisbane to Maryborough on Saturday.

“Most accommodation houses are refusing bookings from people within the lock-down zones, but day trippers make up the biggest sector of annual Fraser Coast visitation and these people are totally unmonitored while in region”. 

Mr Simons said it was too early to set dates for the rescheduling of Whale Festival events – with FCTE event organisers looking at September depending on the Covid situation in the coming weeks.

The hard lockdown of the 11 South-East Queensland local government areas including, the Gold Coast, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast was called by the State Government on Saturday, forcing a last-minute decision by FCTE to postpone the weekend events, including the Blessing of the Fleet, Whale Parade and Concert.

“The decision, not made lightly, was made with community safety at top of mind”.

Mr Simons said he was concerned that many thousands of people appeared to have ignored advice of health officials and headed north on Bruce Highway to escape the lock down. 

“Some of these people are calling our accommodation venues.  These are the ones we know about. Half of all visitors to the Fraser Coast in a year (more than 1.8 million people) are day trippers. These people arrive in region just for the day and are totally unmonitored. 

“It is tough on the local community, but the postponement calls were made to ensure we weren't providing an incentive for people in lock-down to make the trip and be standing cheek and jowl with locals”. 

Fraser Coast Tourism & Events is now reviewing the whale festival program and looking at rescheduling all events, including the Blessing of the Fleet, Paddle Out for Whales, the Whale Family Day, and Hervey Bay's iconic Seafood Festival in September.