The Committee of the Morobe Province Agricultural Society has decided to postpone the 2020 Morobe Show to the 23rd and 24th of October 2021.
The decision was made at its committee meeting that was held on Wednesday, 19th August.
The Morobe Show is the largest annual event held in Lae with this year’s show being the fourth to be postponed in the history of the event, which was first held in 1959.
The Show was to have been held on 31st October and 1st November 2020.
“We have waited for as long as we could to see what effects the COVID-19 pandemic would have on Lae before making a decision,” said Mike Quinn, President of the Society, “but it is obvious that the situation is now getting worse, not better, and there is only one position for us to take and that is to postpone the Show.”
The Committee says this decision was in the best interest of the community, to enable the pandemic to be brought under control, rather than conduct an event that may actually accelerate its spread throughout Morobe Province, the Highlands provinces and the rest of the country.
The Morobe Show can have as many as 100,000 people in attendance each year.
“We cannot run the risk of COVID-19 spreading through potentially up to a quarter of a million people all situated in a concentrated area,” said Quinn. “We acknowledge that we have a social responsibility to look after our citizens, not put them at any risk, so there was total agreement amongst the Committee to make the decision now to postpone the Show.”
The Morobe Show Committee will now focus on trying to make the 59th Morobe Show in 2021 the biggest that they possibly can.