Hunter Valley Grapevine Gathering Cancelled As Restrictions Change

A Hunter Valley music festival has been forced to cancel at the eleventh hour, as restrictions are reintroduced across NSW.

Organisers say the decision was as a result of an abrupt restriction change, which includes no singing or dancing at both indoor and outdoor events.

Event planners from Grapevine Gathering say the festival located at Roche Estate was estimated to bring in $5.2 million for local tourism.

The decision came just four days before the scheduled event, with 16,000 tickets required to be refunded.

Grapevine boasted a stellar Australian lineup, including Peking Duk, The Veronicas, San Cisco and influencing duo The Inspired Unemployed.

Organisers admit it's a tough pill to swallow for an industry already crippled by pandemic laws and case numbers.

"Four days lead time to cancel a major event, of course, is not a long time for the operators of those events to respond and work through with the public," the event management company's CEO Amy Cooper said.

"But, of course, it has big major flow-on effects for a lot of our other tourism operators in the Hunter Valley like accommodation."

Premier Dominic Perrottet announced new restrictions last week in an attempt to ease pressures on NSW's health system amid rising case numbers.

The State Government placed a ban on singing and dancing at indoor hospitality venues, before adding outdoor events to the non-permitted list.

There are approximately 27,000 active cases in the Hunter Valley regional district, 101 people are in hospital, 10 are in ICU.

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