2021 Midstate Mopars cancelled

Midstate Mopars, the annual celebration of all things Chrysler and Mopar in central Victoria has been cancelled for 2021. Lockdown 4.0 in Victoria forced a postponement of the Bendigo event, Lockdown 5.0 put that new date under threat and now Lockdown 6.0 has forced a cancellation.

With this year’s Chryslers on the Murray cancelled back in July, losing Midstate Mopars is a double blow for the Mopar faithful and means Victoria will go without at least one major Chrysler show this year for the first time in almost three decades.

When the week-long Lockdown 4.0 came into effect on 28 May, it meant the originally scheduled dates of 12-13 June were under threat, made even worse by that lockdown being extended a further seven days. Rather than cancel the event, the Central Victorian Chrysler Club (CVCC) announced on 3 June that they would postpone Midstate Mopars to September.

Lockdown 5.0 lasted from mid- to late-July, and when restrictions eased on 27 July, there was some hope the new dates of 4-5 September could be honoured. However, Victoria’s latest lockdown has changed all that.

Lockdown 6.0 came into effect on 5 August and was statewide, initially for one week, but then extended for metropolitan Melbourne, with statewide restrictions again from 21 August.

Despite having numerous COVID-safe initiatives set up, including fenced-off display areas, entry limits and pre-purchased tickets, the Central Victorian Chrysler Club made the hard decision on 9 August to cancel the event outright for 2021.

‘The committee have made the hard and heart-breaking decision to cancel the event, with the support of our local council,’ said a statement on the CVCC Facebook page.

‘We understand that this is frustrating, but we need to cancel it sooner than later as we have some entrants with accommodation booked in Bendigo and they need to be given a significant amount of time to receive a refund/credit. We also don’t want to put any more money into something that the government is going to squash anyway.’

With so many Midstate Mopars attendees – both entrants and spectators – coming from Melbourne and no likelihood of current restrictions easing in time for the new September dates, a cancellation was the only realistic option.

The CVCC thanked the club’s Midstate Mopars event committee, their members, sponsors and entrants for their support this year and said they hope to be able to run Midstate Mopars in 2022 at the event’s usual dates on the June long weekend and with no restrictions.

For updates and more information on Midstate Mopars 2022, click HERE.