“There is absolutely no reason why Summernats shouldn’t happen” at EPIC in January 2022, festival organiser Andy Lopez has boldly announced today.

A staple of Canberra’s events calendar, the 34^th iteration of the Summernats street car festival will roar back into Canberra for the first time in two years come January 2022.

It will notably be Canberra’s first major post-COVID event.

The declaration of intent by Summernats organisers to blaze the trail for major events in Canberra came in response to the ACT Government earlier this week releasing their ‘pathway’ out of lockdown.

The document signalled large-scale events would re-enter the equation come late November to early December this year.

The annual four-day car show usually attracts thousands of visitors to the ACT but was cancelled for the first time this year due to COVID concerns.

Mr Lopez said while border restrictions may prevent some interstate visitors from attending, Summernats would be able to go ahead.

“The event is ready to run and to run in a COVID-safe format,” he said. “It will be similar to previous years, but it will be different.”

It’s expected that density limits will be enforced at key areas around Summernats for both indoor and outdoor events.

Mr Lopez said throughout the pandemic that he and his team have liaised with the various relevant ACT Government bodies, including the Chief Minister’s office, to ensure the event could go ahead “when conditions were right”.

“The right conditions are coming, and the work needs to ramp up now so we’re ready to go in January,” he said.

Organisers keen to ‘set standard’ for large-scale COVID-safe events

Summernats presented ACT Health with a 200-page COVID-safe event plan prior to the current outbreak to demonstrate the level of preparedness they plan to approach their 34^th event with.

Mr Lopez said now the plan “simply needs to be finessed” to match the requirements that will be placed on them by ACT public health restrictions come January 2022.

“Rather than being a test case, we’re a role model for other events,” he said.

“We see ourselves as setting a standard where we have a willing, engaged and motivated partner with ACT Health to help figure out the settings and watch them get implemented.”

READ MORE: 2021 Summernats festival delayed to January 2022

A cornerstone of Canberra’s event calendar, the announcement of Summernats’ return to the capital has been welcomed by Chief Minister Andrew Barr and several peak bodies.

Mr Barr today said he was keen to see big events return to Canberra “next year”, and that the ACT Government would do what they could to accommodate them.

The festival’s normal location at EPIC has been used as a major drive-through COVID testing clinic since the start of the pandemic last year.

“We’ll do what we need to accommodate events at Exhibition Park and that may mean either temporarily or permanently shifting testing sites next year,” he said.

The 2019 event generated $29.2 million for the local economy.

Chair of the Canberra Region Tourism Leaders Forum, David Marshall, said events like Summernats are “pivotal to driving the recovery of the Australian economy”.

“It is one of Canberra’s major events attracting well over 100,000 visitors to the national capital,” he said.

“Hotels, tourism, hospitality and the retail sectors all benefit from the event.”

Braddon United Retailers and Traders (BURT) spokesperson Kel Watt said Summernats generates business across the ACT at a time where the town is typically quiet.

“We support the running of Summernats 34 and the business it generates for places away from EPIC, like Braddon,” he said.

With AAP

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