A decision was made back in February that the event to be held on April 24 and 25, 2021 was to be postponed until a weekend in October.

But with uncertainty still around large scale events and pandemic woes, another decision was made by the Ironfest committee at a recent AGM to postpone the festival to April 23, 24 and 25 next year.

Ironfest founder Macgregor Ross admitted the decision to cancel the 2021 event had been playing on everyone's minds for a few weeks.

"It's been apparent to us for the last few weeks. The core reason why we have cancelled is that people who have purchased tickets and paid for stalls have paid to attend a large scale event...

"and we have realised that, because so many of our constituents have other commitments to other events, we would be unable to deliver an event that was unlikely to not disappoint," he said.

He said he was also cautious of funding loss from cancellations after the Byron Bay Blues festival was cancelled recently.

"One day before their opening they were cancelled and reportedly it cost them a $10 million loss, so that's got festival organisers everywhere well spooked," he said.

Mr Ross said with the slow roll out of COVD vaccines, the current Perth lockdown and a second wave of the virus in numerous locations around world suggested there's still a long way to go before everyone's out of the woods.

"I am not even 100 per cent confident that this time next year large scale events that depend on attracting people out of the cities and into the regions will be allowed to take place," he said.

But he remains hopeful and is already working on delivering a fantastic festival.

Mr Ross said there were plans to abandon the 'Gothic' theme next year for 'Phoenix Rising' but had unexpected feedback from keen festival-goers.

"I posted on Facebook and I have received so much feedback supporting the 'Gothic' theme that we'll stick with it in 2022," he said.

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