Hundreds of people from as far afield as Melbourne and Sydney have taken to social media to express regret and disappointment at the shutdown of one of the largest and most innovative fireworks festivals in the local region.
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The Gunning Fireworks Festival, held every September and which attracts up to 10,000 people, will not be held in 2020.
Pyrotechnic designer and a co-owner of Fireworks Australia, Martin Brady, said he had been "a bit overwhelmed" at the outpouring of public regret over the company's decision to can the event, which had been running for 19 years.
"I must have taken about 50 phone calls this morning about it; I'm a bit surprised, to be honest, at the response," he said.
Mr Brady said the decision to halt the event, which was a huge tourism boom for the region as well as benefiting local charities and non-for-profit organisations, was forced due to the escalating costs of staging the event.
There were no safety issues behind the decision, he said.
The event has its origins as a small demonstration at the Gunning Golf Course two decades ago in which Fireworks Australia, a local Bellmount Forest project company, would invite interstate guests and clients along to see their newest pyrotechnic designs.
But word soon spread around the local community about the "free" annual show and the kilometres of traffic jams along the Gundaroo Road became a safety issue, so the company was forced to switch venues to the local showground.
"We pay for it to be held each year including the costs of the lighting towers, the security, the road signs, the traffic management, generator sets and so on," he said.
"It was always good fun to do; it was our way of engaging and supporting the local community, and helped with fundraising for organisations like the local rural fire service.
"But it's now grown into such a major public event with so many thousands of people that it's become very expensive to hold. And from a practical perspective, it's outgrown the Gunning showground."
Many visitors travelling from interstate would make it part of their holiday schedule and camp at the Gunning showground to see the display, generating income for the small country town and the region.
Mr Andrew Warren, a tourism officer at the Upper Lachlan Shire Council, expressed his surprise at learning the event would not be staged in 2020.
"We're just as shocked as everyone else," he said.
"We only found out through a social media post on Thursday and we're getting a lot of public inquiry coming in. It's certainly very disappointing from a tourism perspective."
Fireworks Australia designs and stages pyrotechnic shows throughout Australia, including displays for the Canberra Show, Summernats, New Years Eve, Australia Day by the lake and such major touring events as Disney on Ice, plus the pyrotechnics for big touring bands such as Guns n'Roses and AC-DC.
Mr Brady said that his company now had the capacity to demonstrate its products without a major display but he did leave the door slightly ajar for a future local public show.
"From a planning perspective we wouldn't be able to hold it in 2020," he said.
"But given that people are so disappointed, perhaps if we can work something out financially and find a new venue, we could find a way to do something locally."
