The loss of the Border Caravan and Camping Expo two years in a row has been a blow for the Wodonga and District Turf Club, with attention now turning to November's Gold Cup.
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The August 27-29 event would have been the 10th expo to be held in Wodonga.
Caravan Industry Victoria chief executive Rob Lucas said the Victorian government had paused any approval for events throughout June and into July.
"The association has been monitoring the current circumstances, including changes to state government restrictions and the proposed changes to the public event framework, which in late May saw the Victorian government pause any approval for events throughout June and into July," he said.
"There have been no further announcements to the public events framework."
Wodonga and District Turf Club chief executive Steve Wright said after the cancellation of the expo in 2020, and loosening restrictions, next month's event was going to be "a near-normal event".
"It's a real shame - a lot of work had been put in by the association and us," he said.
"We were hoping it would be as big as ever.
"We've been in discussion with them for months now and had most of the plans in place, and just in the last couple weeks, things changed,
"We were hoping for the best, but given the case numbers and that people come from all over the country ... logistically it became too hard."
Mr Wright said the club had recently signed a five-year extension of their agreement with the association, so the expo would make a return.
"They love coming here, it's a great event for them and for the whole town," he said.
Attention now turns to November's Gold Cup - the launch of the event has been pushed back, given the current lockdown.
"We have approval for 7500 people and we're hoping if things open up, that limit will be increased as well," Mr Wright said.
"So we're in full planning mode for that now, and we hope to make some exciting announcements in the next few weeks regarding entertainment.
"It is hard to plan anything at the moment."
IN OTHER NEWS:
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