The Lantern Festival, due to take place in Lennox Gardens on Saturday, has been postponed until March, at a date to be announced.

The Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon, set down for Sunday at the Australian Institute of Sport at Bruce, has been cancelled altogether due to ongoing concerns about Canberra's air quality. Organisers say it will return to the AIS in 2021.

More than 1500 children, aged six to 15, were booked in to complete an indoor swim leg and outdoor run and bike leg.

However, Canberra's poor air quality persuaded organisers to cancel, as the smoke from months of bushfires claimed another event.

"Following weeks of air-quality monitoring and consultation with a range of professionals, it is with regret that we are announcing the cancellation of the Canberra Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon this weekend," a statement released on Thursday said.

Sanitarium has promised a full refund to all participants.

Sanitarium spokesperson Sharon Green said she knew "so many families will be disappointed to hear that we've had to cancel it this year".

"We've been bringing the TRYathlon to Canberra since 2002. It's one of the most popular events in the national series. More than 1500 kids were registered to give it a go on Sunday," she said.

"Sanitarium's primary concern is the health, wellbeing and safety of participants, our event operations teams and the volunteers who make this event possible. Based on air quality advice, and ACT Health guidelines, we made the difficult decision to cancel Sunday's event. Event set-up had been scheduled to commence [on Thursday]."

The Australia China Friendship Society, meanwhile, has postponed the popular Lantern Festival due to concerns about the coronavirus.

"Due to health concerns relating to the current public health alert in the ACT region, the Australia China Friendship Society advise that this year's Lantern Festival will be postponed to March. We apologise for the inconvenience caused and will advise of the new date as soon as possible," a statement read.

The society's ACT president, Carol Keil, said it was disappointing to have to make the decision.

"A big component of the event is a big dance performance by Chinese groups and they all thought it was not safe to come," she said.

"We can't have the festival without one of our main components. We're very disappointed to have to cancel it."

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ACT Health says there are currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the territory.

However, with cases confirmed in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, ACT Health is "taking a highly precautionary approach" to the virus, including advising returned travellers from mainland China to isolate themselves at home for 14 days.

The federal government has banned foreign nationals from entering Australia from China for the foreseeable future.

The ANU Chinese Classical Music Ensemble has also been affected by the travel ban, with director Rupert Summerson saying many of its members are still stuck in China.

The ensemble was due to perform at the lantern festival. Mr Summerson said the ensemble still could have performed with members who live in Australia.