Te Anau's tartan festival has been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The three day Easter festival, which was to have hosted the internationally acclaimed New Zealand Highland Dance Company along with a string of other guests, was expected to have attracted thousands to the tourist town.

Committee chairman Chris Watson said the group had been excited about the events planned for this year and the huge numbers of people it would have brought to the town, which has been suffering from a lack of tourists since the borders closed in 2020.

However, after exploring all possible options, the committee determined there was just no way the festival could go ahead with the COVID-19 Protection Framework at Red and a predicted surge in Omicron cases still to come.

“We will be working very hard in the coming months to resecure our special guests, and look forward to offering the same, if not better, programme at Easter weekend next year (7th-10th April 2023),” Watson said.

“We have had an overwhelmingly positive response from those we have contacted already, but we’re also mindful of the blow this will deal the local accommodation and hospitality industry which were looking forward to the economic injection the festival promised,” he said.

Full refunds will be offered to those who had already entered competitions or purchased show tickets.

“If you have booked accommodation, we would urge you to consider coming anyway, supporting our local operators, and exploring Fiordland and everything we have to offer,” Watson said.