"Staying indoors is not an option this winter."
Those are the words on a sign at the Mandurah ice skating rink, however, winter events have been off limits as Perth and Peel entered a snap lockdown on Tuesday.
As we await an announcement from WA Premier Mark McGowan on whether the four-day lockdown will end as scheduled, Ice Rinks Australia site manager Mike Donaghy said the closure impacted many event staff.
"We have 21 staff that've been out of work this week that were expecting shifts. Not to mention the pop-up bar that had to close as well," he said.
"It is unfortunate we had to close this week but we're hoping we can open on Saturday.
"The bright side is that the lockdown happened this week because this is our quiet week before school holidays start. If we can open for school holidays it will make up for the loss of business."
The shut down has been an additional blow for Ice Rinks Australia with events cancelled across the country as COVID-19 restrictions came into play in Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and the Northern Territory.
It has been a crippling season for us and a pretty stressful time for the business.
- Ice Rinks Australia site manager Mike Donaghy
Mr Donaghy said the company usually runs in every major city and regional spots around Australia.
"Sydney is terrible for Ice Rinks Australia. The company had to close down four of their flagship sites and biggest events," he said.
"The business usually supplies ice rinks for at least 10 events Australia wide around this time but now most are closed.
"We can only hope the other events that are still open make up for it. It has been a crippling season for us and a pretty stressful time for the business."
The cancellation of ice skating events this winter comes following a terrible year for event organisers last year.
"Unfortunately none of the events could go ahead last year," Mr Donaghy said.
"Working in events in general I lost all the event work I do so it was a quiet year for events.
"Like most people I had to find other jobs in that year off. I worked in landscaping and worked at a mate's juice bar. I had to do little bits and pieces here and there to get by."
