Show Day will go ahead despite the show itself being cancelled

The annual public holiday was created with the aim of encouraging locals to attend the Royal Launceston Show.

For the second consecutive year, the public holiday is set to go ahead despite the show being cancelled.

President of the Launceston Show Society Dale Beams said that government-imposed COVID-19 regulations, which capped the event at 5000 punters, was a killer blow.

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"We weren't going to get the numbers we needed through the gate to make it worth it for any one concerned, it just wasn't viable," he said.

The event, which had traditionally been a four-day affair, was scheduled to run over two days this year.

Mr Beams conceded that the show's popularity had dwindled over the years and cited lack of space at the Launceston Showgrounds in Inveresk as a contributing factor.

He said that this year's event was set to leave Launceston and had been planned to be held at Quercus Park, the home of Agfest, in Carrick.

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Uncertainty regarding how COVID-19 might continue to affect the event in the future has sparked debate over whether the public holiday should continue to be held in its honour.

Many members of the community came to the defence of the public holiday and some workers have capitalised on it by organising rostered days off on the Friday to secure a four-day weekend.

Launceston Member in the Legislative Council, Rosemary Armitage, believed this has come at a cost for local businesses.

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"The biggest problem I see with the Show Day holiday is the inconsistency across the state for business operation ... Launceston closes but Hobart continues to work and vice versa," she said.

"Obviously as a gazetted public holiday, it would be difficult to change at short notice.

"However, going forward, if we are looking at changing the Tasmanian public holiday schedule there will need to be a wider discussion with the community, business owners and operators."

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Previously, a spokesperson from the Department of Justice had stated that any decision to change local public holidays would require sufficient time for proper consultation as well as time for community members to plan for the impact of a change in the date.

The spokesperson said due to the lengthy process required in order to make changes, implementing any alteration to Show Day holidays was unlikely to be practical.

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