CANCELLED – 2021 SHEPPARTON ALBANIAN HARVEST FESTIVAL

An official statement from Reg Qemal: President Shepparton Albanian Committee.

The Shepparton Albanian Festival Committee have been faced with a very difficult decision in the lead up to our March 21 event. We are very sad to announce that the 2021 Shepparton Albanian Harvest Festival will not proceed.

CLICK HERE AND SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to keep up to date with our announcements.

The Shepparton Albanian Festival Committee brings our whole community together for a purpose. In March we celebrate harvest time and share our love of food, we recognise our culture and connect with our Albanian community far and wide. Therefore, we realise that this news will come as a huge disappointment, not only to our attendees but also to our stakeholders, volunteers and especially the Albanian
community.

A significant part of our event planning for 2021 was to meet the new COVID Safe Public Event Guidelines set out by the Victorian State Government. The planning, management and measures that were required for our event to proceed were overwhelming for the volunteer committee.

Our 2016 Festival.
The intention of our event is to share and celebrate our culture. This includes enjoying food, dancing and socialising . The COVID Safe guidelines clearly stated that we had to ensure physical distancing throughout the event and restrict certain activities, for example no hand holding whilst dancing. When making our decision
we felt these changes would diminish the quality and essence of our event. As our event attracts people from far and wide it was also a priority that we addressed the health and safety of all attendees.

We feel there are still so many unknowns and we will be in a better position to present the event that we all know and love in March 2022.
In the meantime, we encourage you, your family, your community to stay connected to your Albanian culture in your own way during March. This may be through a more intimate gathering that meets the current COVID guidelines.

CLICK HERE AND SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to keep up to date with our announcements.

Best wishes and stay safe.
Reg Qemal: President Shepparton Albanian Committee