Who's still doing their display in COVID Victoria?

Kotche

Apprentice elf
Joined
Jan 14, 2019
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The greater metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, is under Stage 4 COVID19 restrictions; it is possible that Stage 4 restrictions could still be in place come Christmas 2020 time.

One of the Stage 4 restrictions is a curfew on citizens from 8pm to 5am; if you live in a Stage 4 affected area, will you still put up your display?

I imagine that if restrictions remain as they are that there will be significantly less traffic - by foot or otherwise.
 

djgra79

My name is Graham & I love flashing lights!
Global moderator
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Dec 27, 2011
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Cranbourne West
Still too early to call. Stage 4 has 3 weeks left and we'll probably know if that will be extended within the next 1-2 weeks.
My guess is Stage 3 or less will still be in place by Christmas, so whilst gatherings may not be allowed, you can still travel, meaning if you can stay in your car and go for a drive to see displays, then I will still put my show on.
My show is not huge and doesn't require weeks of install however.
 

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
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I won't be deciding until mid October I would say. Unless we are pretty much all clear I won't be doing a full display. There's still far more cases of Covid in the wild than there was at any of the points where restrictions were put into place so the numbers need to drop to near zero for weeks on end before it could be considered to be under control. I can see non essential travel and gatherings being limited through until the end of the year.
 

andrewa

Full time elf
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Dec 22, 2012
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Frankston North, Victoria
Not planning to do anything this year but put out a few of the old static lights I still have. I imagine we will go to stage 3 for a few weeks then stage 2 by Christmas. I think it is not worth the risk of compromising the safety of my community attracting them to congregate. I have no control who walks past my yard, so I feel it is irresponsible to attract congregation. This is probably horrible to say but huge amounts of the population have shown that basic safety protocols are beyond their comprehension. We are in this mess because people can not be trusted to to the right thing. To prove this point, go out for exercise and count how many only put their masks on as you approach or are nor wearing at all.
 

RAMJET

so much to do so little time
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Aug 25, 2011
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Minchinbury
I say, lets do it and put the lights up, take videos and do live steaming, lets not let this get us down. Remain positive and fight on, Santa would demand that of us. There is always a work around. Stay safe and be strong.
 

Katekate

Senior elf
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Jan 1, 2020
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Location
Portland, Vic
I do my display for myself. so I'll be proceeding either way.

There isn't really any reason to get out of the car, and I'm not in the stage 4 area.
 

Red

l kill you
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Jan 11, 2016
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Mansfield
My concerns are if Light displays are deemed Public gatherings and what consequence that would mean to enable to display to proceed, It could range from Taking contact details of any walkers, Not being allowed at all, being judged an illegal gathering, for as most would agree, its not really something you can actively control on visitor numbers, Full stop, to many unknowns atm for me and the misses to answer, but we are working on the principle of NOT being allowed at all.
 

BenF

New elf
Joined
Mar 10, 2019
Messages
17
I am still planning to get a display up, but the size may change depending on the level of lock down we are in. Will wait until late November to decide. I am still printing and making items like I am going full display.
 

Tonyst

New elf
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
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Location
Newcastle, NSW
We need to think about other states as well. Red has a good point about the legal aspects, but I am also concerned about the ethical aspect with thousands of people getting out of their cars and standing next to each other looking at my lights. I cannot stop people getting out of their cars, but it will be my lights that could cause the infection to be transmitted. I am seriously thinking about drastically cutting back the display so people are not tempted to stand and look. There is already one major display in Lake Macquarie that has announced they will not be doing their lights at all this year.

Of course it is still early, and I will make the decision at the start of November and hope things have changed by then, but I believe that we as group should be very cautious of being the people that could help spread Covid 19.
 

QLDKing(Brad)

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Dec 28, 2016
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Albany Creek
Have a feeling if they go ahead might be as @Red considered a public gathering. Paper work may be needed to proceed. Its going to come down to watch this space.
 
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