Ersilia Tarantino hoped her 50-person event in regional Western Australia would be remembered as a celebration of the arts in Geraldton. Instead, a third of the attendees contracted COVID-19.
Since the opening of the new collaborative art space last Friday, at least 15 known attendees — including Ms Tarantino and her partner — have tested positive to the virus.
Despite following all recommended state government guidelines and asking patrons to check in and present vaccination certificates, she said she was feeling a sense of guilt.
"Although people take their own risks to come to an event, you feel guilty that it's your event they caught it at, even though you've done your best to keep people safe," she said.
Ms Tarantino said, although it was important to keep celebrating community art, she would think twice before holding a similar-sized event in the near future.
"I would be more cautious about mask-wearing," she said.
"I maybe wouldn't have alcohol at the event, would think twice about having finger food, and I would also check that anyone didn't have any cold and flu symptoms.
"[But] I find that it is the connection between the people that keeps the community going, and the support amongst each other.
"It's a balance, isn't it?"
Sammy Jay, whose art was on display at the event, said she was incredibly disappointed to learn so many attendees contracted COVID.
"It feels really bad," she said.
Outbreak prompts event cancellations
In the wake of the localised outbreak, another local event provider has pulled the pin and cancelled Tree Sets — an event held in Geraldton to showcase homegrown musicians that usually attracted about 100 people.
Regional Sounds executive director Alexia Parenzee said tears were shed this week when the not-for-profit organisation made the decision to cancel.
"Lots and lots of volunteer hours went into producing that event," she said.
"Knowing there's been a bit of a spike in local COVID cases, we really felt that it was within everyone's best interest to postpone or cancel for now."
Ms Parenzee said it was an incredibly challenging time to organise events.
"We're just going to have conversations with the community and with our punters in the arts and music — individuals who make up our scene," she said.
Regional artists and communities taking a hit
Organiser for the Musicians Australia section of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance union Thomas Freeman said grassroots artists had been hit hard by the pandemic.
"They're small community arts events — like a showing at a local art gallery or a band playing at the pub — they're not bringing in huge numbers," he said.
As organisers weigh up the future of their events, member of the Midwest General Practitioner Network Ian Taylor urged people to continue to do everything they could to stop the spread.
He said the localised outbreak in Geraldton could have been worse.
"It is likely — without masks and other rules — transmission would have been even worse," Dr Taylor said of the event.
"The reality is that unvaccinated people are way over-represented in hospitals and ICU in proportion to their numbers, and those figures speak for themselves in favour of vaccination."
