A TOCUMWAL councillor says the loss of this year's Strawberry Fields music festival would hurt his town.

Ross Bodey was responding to news on Tuesday that organisers of the big event had decided to pull the plug because of COVID-19.

"It's unfortunate but it is the time we live in, it will take the edge of some good financial money spent in the town," Cr Bodey said.

"Tocumwal always benefits from infrastructure from Strawberry Fields and certainly from the visitors, organisers and people that set up a week or two before.

"They come and drink and eat and stay and many are alternative people, but they're good people willing to spend money in our town."

Each year festival organisers provide thousands of dollars in community grants to Tocumwal, with Berrigan Shire mayor Matt Hannan saying they totalled $45,000 last year.

"There will be impact from an economic point of view but keeping the community safe is important and the organisers wouldn't want to jeopardise the health of locals," Cr Hannan said.

EARLIER

THE Strawberry Fields music festival has become the last major 2020 cultural event in the southern Riverina to succumb to the fallout from coronavirus.

Festival director Tara Medina said logistically it was too difficult to hold the annual Tocumwal music celebration at the end of this year.

"After much discussion, we believe this is in the best interests of our fans, our staff, the local community and all the emergency services who support this event," Ms Medina said.

"Although we hope the current situation in Victoria improves dramatically in coming months, at the moment it feels inappropriate to consider bringing thousands of people to the region from primarily Melbourne and Sydney.

"We want to respect the space, health and wellbeing of the Berrigan Shire as well as the time of local emergency services who are already so busy fighting the pandemic day to day."

IN OTHER NEWS:

Ms Medina said administrators had wanted to hold out in the hope

"We really waited until the eleventh hour to see if we could work something out - even with a drastically reduced capacity - but we have to come to terms with the reality that it will not be possible until 2021," she said.

"Despite the heartbreak, we are seeing this as an important time to reset.

"Our industry is called "creative" for a reason - if there is anyone who will look for ways to adapt and move forward so that we can continue to inspire and share culture, it's us."

The cancellation of Strawberry Fields follows the shelving of other big Riverina events, the Deni Ute Muster and Henty Machinery Field Days.