Linden Bramich of Tumbarumba who had registered and bought merchandise said she was “absolutely shocked and angry – especially about the no refunds”.

“The merchandise that was bought [from Miss Muddy], I never received,” Ms Bramich said.

“As a working mother, I don’t particularly like to waste money.”

Ms Bramich paid about $140 for registrations and merchandise and said her five friends were also feeling the same.

“I’m also guilty because I convinced friends to join and now they’ve lost money as well,” she said.

“Everyone’s feeling the same about this.”

Ms Bramich participated in the 2016 Miss Muddy Cairns and said communication about the difficulties of this year’s upcoming events was “non-existent”.

“I loved it in Cairns, which is why I wanted to do it again, but there’s been no communication or warnings about the cancellations,” she said.

“I found out only because I was tagged in a [social media] post – I wasn’t contacted directly.”

In July 2018, charity Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation acquired Miss Muddy and ran the event under a separate entity – Events Move Enterprises.

However, lacklustre registrations across not just Henty but Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth led to the company closing.

Allan Turner, founder of the foundation and managing director of Events Move Enterprises, apologised in a social media post yesterday, saying he took full blame.

“I am personally and truly sorry for everything that has happened...it hurts us to be in this position,” he said.

Asked if she could talk directly with Mr Turner, Ms Bramich said she would ask him why he “was still running other events under the foundation”.

“In his apology, he mentioned the foundation as a defence, but that’s not a reason to rip off other people,” she said.

Similarly, Narrandera resident Lee Longmire, who paid for herself and her daughter, said she and about 10 others whom she convinced to register were “incredibly disappointed”.

“I organised friends to join my team who’s now lost money, so I’m upset that I encourage others to join” Ms Longmire said.

“I’m angry about how this has been organised – it’s all very frustrating.

“There was no warning [about the cancellations] and only a post on Facebook on Monday about the event – then yesterday’s post about liquidation.”

“There’s a stench about it – the way they let people know about it.”

Ms Longmire said she bought her pre-sale tickets in March 2018, about four months prior to Events Move Enterprises acquiring Miss Muddy.

“So I’m not sure what the go is now – not sure who got my money,” she said.

“They need to give us specific details and a run down about the exact timeline of what happened.

“It seems like a complete mismanagement and poor decision making.”

Ms Longmire said she had been to about 30 similar events in the past – including triathlons and fun runs – and said this was the first time she had experienced “last-minute cancellations”.

“I’ve never done Miss Muddy but know others who have and they said it was a really good event,” she said.

Inquiries about liquidators and further questions to Events Move Enterprise have been made.