In an announcement made this week, the show society said that "faced with restrictions on crowd sizes, movement of interstate competitors and a rapidly changing operating environment, the Gunning PA&I Society has made the difficult decision to cancel its annual February show."

It has vowed that the long-running community event will be back bigger and stronger in 2022.

The PA&I Society held its annual general meeting in September, where they considered options to enable the show to go ahead in some form.

However it was unanimously agreed the risk of holding a show under a COVID-cloud was too great.

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"It's just the second time in its 119-year history that the Gunning Show will not proceed and is particularly disappointing as the organising committee was riding a wave of enthusiasm after successfully attracting a $110,000 AgShows grant to upgrade its showground facilities," the committee said in a statement.

Gunning Show president, Frank Hannan, said the decision to cancel next year's event was not taken lightly, and a number of factors were weighed up.

These included the need to keep spectators and show participants safe, the tough economic environment for the show's sponsors, the likelihood of restrictions around large crowds remaining in place into the new year, and the economic impact cancelling the event would have on the town.

The unknown of operating conditions "around the corner" was one of the main considerations.

"We have learnt from the Victorian outbreak that things can change in the space of a few days or even hours," Mr Hannan said.

"We can't justify the risk of a late cancellation, which has been an unfortunate situation faced by many in our show fraternity. The committee puts in countless hours and a significant financial outlay goes towards making a country show happen, many months ahead of the event."

Mr Hannan paid tribute to the hard-working committee which he said was still eager to stage a smaller community event later this year once there is greater certainty around the lifting of COVID restrictions.

"We have one of the hardest working committees, and while it is sad to think we won't be putting on a great show, it will give us plenty of time to complete the showground renovations and plan a terrific event for 2022," Mr Hannan said.

Gunning district resident and long-time sponsor of the Gunning Show, Amy Wyer of FertSpread, said she supported the tough decision but insists the Gunning Show remains an important event on the local calendar.

"We have always valued the opportunity to connect with our local customers through the show and will miss that interaction in 2021," Ms Wyer said.

"On the back of the drought and now COVID-19, it's been a tough year, but nothing we can't get through as a community.

"Our support of the Gunning Show over many years recognises the important role it plays in bringing the community together and to show pride in the excellent local food and fibre we produce. I have no doubt that 2022 will signal a special return for the show."