Organisers of the Meeniyan Garlic Festival on Thursday announced the cancellation of the 2024 event, citing a lack of local volunteers.

That comes as a shock after the Sentinel-Times recently reported the festival would be going ahead with further backing from the Victorian Government’s Regional Events Fund.

“Visit Victoria and South Gippsland Shire in conjunction with the Gippsland Events Acquisition Fund have provided the financial backing required,” organisers said in a statement detailing the festival’s cancellation, noting that local volunteerism has dropped substantially in recent years.

That is attributed to the Covid period, with the 2021 and 2022 Garlic Festivals unable to proceed.

“In the early years of the event, we had about three busloads of local volunteers but that has now dwindled to little more than a handful,” current president of Meeniyan Festivals & Events Laurie Martin said.

While the entry fee for the Garlic Festival rose for the first time in the event’s history this year, it was still just $15 for adults, with children under 16 admitted free.

“To deliver such a complex event at that price requires two main things, good financial backing and solid local volunteer support,” Laurie said.

The Meeniyan Garlic Festival began in 2017, with the family-friendly day providing a chance to learn about growing garlic as well as using it in cooking and remedies, and a range of varieties of garlic bulbs available to buy.

Fun activities for kids and music were further attractions of the festival.

The Garlic Festival quickly evolved into a significant affair, using garlic to showcase the fine food, produce, wines, cheeses and artisans of the Gippsland region.

While organisers employed a South Gippsland based professional event manager to run this year’s festival, also paying community organisations on a fee-for-service basis in order to cope with reduced volunteer numbers, the approach is deemed to be not economically viable.

However, as recently mentioned in this newspaper, organisers see potential for the festival in other parts of South Gippsland Shire.

““We believe the Garlic Festival model is still viable and represents an excellent opportunity for a South Gippsland town to capitalise on all the development work that has gone into the event and the recognition the concept has amongst thousands of people from Melbourne and outside the shire,” Laurie said.

However, the current organising committee, being Meeniyan Festivals & Events, doesn’t have a mandate to operate in other towns.

“I’m sure any town which decides to have a crack at running the event can count on intellectual input from those of us with history in it,” Laurie said, making his hopes of a future for the Garlic Festival clear.