For years the Bluewater Country Music Festival had been synonymous with the June long weekend in Port Stephens and was seen as the lifeblood for many tourism and small business operators, providing a welcome injection of funds from visitors and some bright relief from the bleak winter months.

A mainstay on the Port calendar for more than a decade, Bluewater has been cancelled for the second year in succession and there is a fear that it could be lost forever to the people of Port Stephens.

Likewise, another of the Port's popular festivals, Tastes of the Bay, which in 2019 was combined with Love Seafood month in August, has been canned this year.

Love Seafood, however, will go ahead without the Tastes at a date to be confirmed.

The cancellation of both the Bluewater and Tastes festivals in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic was widely accepted by Port Stephens community.

However, there was an expectation that the events would return in 2021 along with the large number of other music, food and cultural events across the state.

And as the economy and business sector slowly recovers from the ravages of the pandemic, the festival scene in Port Stephens remains in limbo for fear of another COVID outbreak.

The loss of the country music event in June will hit hard not only businesses but also local artists, performers and the irrepressible Bay Bootscooters, a 100-strong line dancing group linked to Wests Diggers club, which is celebrating its 21st birthday in 2021.

"We were hoping to coincide our birthday celebrations with a performance at this year's country music festival, where we have performed for the past 10 years or more," said the group's president Mel Smith.

"It is disappointing that the festival won't go ahead this year, so we will have to celebrate in private with a lunch and performance. It's a shame that we will have to miss out for the second year running, but we are hoping we can come back in 2022."

In past years both festivals have relied heavily on state government and/or council grants, business support through sponsorship and volunteer help. Organising such events, according to one of the organisers from past years Peter Clough, would take months of hard work.

"Both events were extremely popular and economically beneficial for Port Stephens over the many years. Locals particularly were appreciative of the importance of these events which showcased Port Stephens to the world," he said.

"The community and the council probably need to look at other ways of recreating Bluewater and Tastes and hopefully they can continue into the future."

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Business Port Stephens president Leah Anderson said that the running of both the Bluewater and Tastes of the Bay festivals had been outsourced prior to COVID "as we simply did not have enough time or resources to run these events".

"Events such as these take anything up to six months to plan, and are best run by experienced event management organisations. Tastes merged with the Destination Port Stephens Love Seafood festival in August 2019."

She said that BPS would continue to play a role in supporting such events but would no longer be running them.

"The response to surveys from our members overwhelmingly is linked to networking and advocacy."

Destination Port Stephens CEO Eileen Gilliland confirmed the postponement of Love Sea Food 2021 from August due to the unpredictability of the pandemic.

"We want to ensure that the event is held within the COVID-safe guidelines. The aim is to hold it in the last quarter of the year (date to be confirmed). Love Seafood has become a highly successful event held in the month of August celebrating one of the great attractions and drawcards Port Stephens has to offer."

A Port Stephens Council spokesperson said that the council looked forward to seeing the revised format of the Love Sea Food event later in 2021, which it has previously supported.

"As a council, our focus is on event attraction to drive economic growth and add vibrancy to our towns, and we are keen to continue to support a diverse range of events. We actively work to attract major events to our region and communicate regularly with event organisers and community groups to enable, facilitate and support the delivery of events in Port Stephens. So far this year, we have welcomed the inaugural Spartan Port Stephens, Sail Port Stephens and the NSW Port Stephens Pro to our region and we are keen to continue our support."

The council spokesperson said that the community funding program was available for organisers to source funding for events - including community events and major events sponsorship.

"More than $185,000 was distributed in funding to support events, vibrancy and activation in the 2020-21 financial year. Major event sponsorship is open year-round, while the next round of other funding streams is due on July 1, 2021."

To apply go to portstephens.nsw.gov.au/funding or phone 4988 0255.

One of the major players for the Bluewater festival was Soldiers Point Bowling Club. Secretary Simon Lack said it was a shame that the area would be losing the festival.

"I feel the music festival was losing some of its appeal prior to COVID-19."

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