The Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) Farm Machinery Show 2021, which was scheduled to take place in February, will not now go ahead.
In a message to would-be exhibitors, the FTMTA has decided that it won’t be possible to proceed with the show, due to public health concerns. The show had been set to take place in Punchestown Racecourse over three days in February.
The association told exhibitors that it “had hoped that it would be possible to hold Ireland’s flagship farm machinery event as planned but evolving developments in relation to the [Covid-19] pandemic and associated restrictions over recent months mean that it is no longer feasible to consider that the event could take place”.
In light of this, FTMTA is taking the prudent decision to cancel the event at this stage.
“The association realises that this announcement will come as a great disappointment to many exhibitors and visitors who were still hoping that it would somehow be possible for the show to go ahead but, as with so many other things this year, the reality is that there was no other realistic option,” the statement said.
The FTMTA said that it hopes to hold a “large-scale, high-quality, farm machinery event, which will be open to the public, later in 2021”.
However, this will depend on how the Covid situation develops over time.
The association realises that there is a tremendous appetite among our exhibitors and machinery enthusiasts to once again be able to attend a premium farm machinery event and we will do all we can to facilitate this when the wider situation permits.
“The safety and health of all stakeholders, exhibitors and visitors, and the wider context of the public health situation, are the paramount concerns of the association and any FTMTA event to be held in 2021 will be with such considerations to the fore.
“FTMTA has a proven track record in the delivery of well managed public events and will work with the relevant authorities to provide a safe event for our exhibitors and visitors,” the statement concluded.