A miserable weekend weather forecast and the potential for flooding has forced organisers of the human whale formation and the Karuah Oyster and Timber Festival to postpone them until 2023.
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The NSW Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a "very high" chance of 35mm of rain falling in the Bay on Saturday and 25mm on Sunday when the human whale was due to make a comeback after a three year COVID-19 hiatus.
Meanwhile, the committee behind the Karuah festival, which was due to return on October 15, has been postponed due to concerns that Longworth Park is "in no way safe for a festival to go ahead" following consistent rainfall this year.
"There is no way to soften the 'blow' other than we will be back bigger and better in 2023," human whale event organiser Mel Turner said.
"It was a difficult call to make, but we were resigned to the fact we just wouldn't attract the numbers we were after to create the desired impact of the whale and calf.
"As with any outdoor event, the weather can make or break the day and the forecast is not in our favour."
RELATED READING: Prepare now for heavy rain and potential flooding
The human whale event, first staged with just a few hundred people in 2011, pays homage to the 'Humpback Highway' along which an estimated 40,000 whales have travelled during their annual migration this year.
Its organisation this year was timed to coincide with the end of the September school holiday and the winding down of the whale watching season.
Organisers, among which are representatives from the Port's whale watching and tourism organisations, were attempting for the first time to create the outline of a mother whale and calf on Fingal Beach on October 9, requiring more than 1400 people to do so.
Ms Turner said organisers are planning to bring back the event back in 2023 to coincide with the July school holidays.
"This is traditionally when the event is held. There are opportunities we can visit to make this a larger event in celebration of the start of the whale season," she said.
The Karuah festival, which celebrates the two industries in which the town and Port Stephens was built on, oysters and timber, looks set to return in early 2023.
A spokeswoman for the festival's committee said it was with a "heavy heart" that they had to postpone the festival, last held in 2019, but it could not proceed as planned.
"The weather has not been kind to anyone," the spokeswoman said. "The park is in no way safe for a festival to go ahead. We look forward to seeing everyone when it is drier."
The whale season continues in Port Stephens with the southern migration still in full swing.
Whale watching tour operators Moonshadow-TQC Cruises and Imagine Cruise reported experiencing a bumper October long weekend out on the water with active sightings of whales and calves.
The whale season traditionally wraps up mid-November.
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Ellie-Marie Watts
A journalist with 10 years experience, Ellie-Marie connects readers to the stories that matter in their communities. A Port Stephens-based news, sport and event writer and photographer with a passion for human interest features.
A journalist with 10 years experience, Ellie-Marie connects readers to the stories that matter in their communities. A Port Stephens-based news, sport and event writer and photographer with a passion for human interest features.
