The NZ Cider Festival is latest in a string of events to be cancelled after the country moved to red traffic light setting.
The festival said in a statement that they are "extremely disappointed" to make the announcement, which mirrors event organisers throughout the region.
The NZ Cider Festival was to be held in Hawke's Bay on 12 February, in a move which would see the Nelson-born festival alternate years between it's home location and the North Island.
“This was a heart-breaking decision to have to make, especially as we have already had to postpone the festival once, festival director, Shelley Haring says.
She says advance ticket sales for the festival indicated that people were excited to get together and celebrate the best of NZ Cider.
"However, with the festival being so close and the uncertainty around when large festivals can happen, it makes it difficult to plan ahead to ensure there is no further impact for our event, our cider producers, sponsors, suppliers and our attendees and so we had to make the call now.
“The move to a red traffic light is devastating for the entire events industry. Our industry was the ‘first to stop and the last to restart’."
She says there was optimism for 2022, following a difficult 2021.
"But this is almost the last straw.”
The Festival organising team will now start planning for the 2022 Festival, due to be held in Nelson in November, they look forward to once again celebrating everything New Zealand Cider!
