A LONG serving member of Minyip's Show and Shine committee has expressed his disappointment that the show is postponed for 2021.
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Dale Maggs, who has been organising the event along with Freedom Riders Australia since 2014, said this year's event would have been the "perfect" but due to the snap lockdown, the February 28 show was canned and moved to April 11.
The event had gone from 99 entrants to 250 and the attendance was expected to reach 2000 people.
"It was a nightmare," Mr Maggs said.
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"It would have been the biggest car show to happen regionally after lockdown, bigger than anyone we've had. It's just crushing."
Mr Maggs said as a public event the committee required to obtain certain permits and simply couldn't get through the application process in time.
"It's about a 14-page application form," he said.
"They've made it so hard to obtain. I was shocked they've pulled that.
"We're volunteers, shopkeepers, butchers and hoteliers. We can't spare the two days on prep work and triple check paperwork to get an event through.
"Our little rural community Show and Shine couldn't jump through all the hoops."
The impact on the regional economy and tourism due to the snap lockdown frustrated Mr Maggs.
"It was a knee jerk reaction that's caused a lot of hardship to tourism in regional Victoria," he said.
Mr Maggs said to look out for the "non-event", as many cars and bikes are still travelling to Minyip to spread some cash around in a show of support.
"One bloke said we would like to make a donation because we know how hard it is to put on an event only to have it crushed," Mr Maggs said.
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"The cost of the postponement is not just bums on seats for businesses, it's meals and drinks spent on Friday and Saturday.
"It's a ripple effect. The butcher who would sell $4000 worth of goods, he won't have that sale. It's a bang on effect for all businesses.
"For us, we'll have to rebrand the posters.
"They'll be a few detractors from the lockdown."
But Mr Maggs is in high spirits and said the car community were great people.
"One man from Mildura is coming down with a heap of vehicles and a pocketful of cash to spend in our town," he said.
"We'll build Show and Shine bigger and better."
Show and Shine 2022 will be the 150th anniversary of Minyip. The date has been moved forward to March 2022.
"It will be the biggest Show and Shine and will be held on the long weekend," Mr Maggs said.
Show and Shine will be hosted on April 11 and feature car and bike shows, children's activities, food stalls, live music and more.
"It's a great opportunity to get out once again and be with the community. It's getting together and being involved," Mr Maggs said.
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