The annual Melbourne Dog Lovers Show has been postponed to next year and is now set to take place 14 to 16 November 2022 at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC).
This follows the announcement that the Sydney Dog Lovers Show has been postponed for a second time, and will now be held 6 and 7 August 2022, at Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park.
Due to ongoing uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Event Management International (EMI) has had to reschedule the famous dog lovers events, bringing the company’s total number of rescheduled events since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to nine.
Despite initially feeling confident that the event could go ahead in October this year, EMI chief executive officer and show founder Jason Humphris said that unfortunately that hasn’t allowed enough time for the situation to improve and it’s now unlikely that any major indoor events will run in 2021.
“Rescheduling to 2022 enables us to wait for a period where there is more economic stability, lockdowns are no longer the default of governments and a much larger percentage of the population is vaccinated—that’s when we are confident this sector and our Show will have a clear path to success and be able to thrive,” Humphris said.
Prior to the current Delta outbreak that has swept across the east coast, EMI was anticipating its most successful year yet, with advanced ticket sales for the Sydney Dog Lovers Show up more than 220 percent and the Melbourne Dog Lovers Show set to break attendance records with its first appearance at the MCEC.
“Over the next 12 months, we are committed to doing everything we can to deliver our best shows yet in 2022 when the world is hopefully in much better shape.”
As one of the world’s largest dog-dedicated festivals, Melbourne Dog Lovers Show will feature over 1,000 dogs across more than 150 breeds and hundreds of exhibitors and performances, rivalling its previous programs.
Meanwhile, the Sydney Dog Lovers Show will showcase more than 800 dogs representing over 120 breeds, as well as an action-packed program of new attractions and talent.
Tickets for both events, as well as the 2022 Melbourne Cat Lovers Show, will go on sale October 2021.
