Dear Olive Tree Community, Supporters and Friends.
We would like to update you on our plans for the April 4th date of The Olive Tree Market. Over the past week we have been carefully monitoring the unfolding impacts of the Coronavirus/ COVID-19, in order to fully understand the potential impacts on our event, and to ensure we make informed, and well planned decisions, for operating upcoming dates of The Olive Tree Market.
The health and safety of our stallholder community, wonderful visitors and customers, is our first and foremost priority. Therefore, we will be following the Federal and State Governments advice and recommendation that all non-essential events with 500+ people should be cancelled.
This means that we have needed to make the extremely difficult decision to cancel our April The Olive Tree Market. As a small business that has hosted and supported creative small businesses over the last 12 years, we fully understand how worrying the current landscape is. Events provide a significant portion, if not the entire income, of so many of our wonderful creative community members. Their livelihoods have literally disappeared over the last few days. (This includes us as event organisers)
In these uncertain times, we all need to come together and support each other where we can. If you have the ability to support your local creative community, we encourage you to do so. We know that Australian makers, designers, and creatives will love you for this
Many of our community have online businesses and stores, which means that you are able to shop from home, and have beautiful work arrive by mail. If you have the ability to have food stalls provide catering for your business, or small event, this would also be incredibly helpful.
We also know that having so many creative events cancelled over the last days, including markets, festivals, concerts, theatre productions, and community gatherings, not only affects creatives, but that you as our community, miss out on the thriving cultural landscape of our country, which is an important part of so many people’s lives.
In the coming weeks we will continue to monitor the evolving situation carefully, and will follow the Australian and NSW Government’s guidelines regarding public/ mass events. We will also be looking at ways we may be able to create opportunities for our community at this time- stay tuned on this front. We would love to set-up some form of online store, so if you are talented in this area, and think you could help, we would love to hear from you!
We will update you as soon as we have any information that will allow us to trade safely. We really look forward to seeing you when we are next able to produce The Olive Tree Market. Thank-you for your continued support and understanding.
Lastly, for anyone who is feeling sick, please stay home and take care of yourself! Let’s hope that this will be a short lived situation, where there is limited negative impact on the health of our Australian community at large.
Sending you our sincere best wishes. Take care and be kind.
The Olive Tree Market Family.
