THE future of the Myrtleford Festival has been called into question after a "disappointing" turnout prevented the event's annual general meeting from going ahead last month.

Starting in 1961 as the Tobacco and Hops Festival, the event is one of Victoria's oldest annual rural community festivals, although it hasn't been held since 2019 due to COVID.

And festival president Melanie Dymond is warning that unless more people put their hand up to volunteer, the event may be lost forever.

"Two weeks ago we tried to hold the 2022 Myrtleford Festival AGM and we had a disappointing turnout," she said.

"Without the required number of attendees, we were unable to hold the AGM and also unable to form a new committee.

"This puts the future of the festival in doubt.

"The festival itself is much loved and does not appear to be the problem; the difficulty we face is in finding members of our community to join and help run our festival.

"It's too much work for six people to run the event; we require at least 12 people to keep the festival alive."

Ms Dymond explained that with such a small committee, each person had a number of roles to fulfil.

"For example, I was secretary for two years and at the same time ran the art prize and fundraising," she said.

"Our treasurer also runs the Sunday market and other jobs.

"The event organisation; planning permits, traffic management, music and stage bookings, is really a two person job.

"Lets not forget that we also have family and work commitments of our own.

"With such a small committee we are only ever going to be able to put the same festival on each year when really we like to see some growth and new events to make the festival bigger and better.

"We need outside attendance; we cannot rely on the Myrtleford community alone.

"As for the future of the festival, this will be a discussion for the remaining committee as to whether we postpone for another 12 months or look into a more permanent situation."

The committee is holding one more attempt at a meeting next week.

"We're going to have one more try at a meeting with the hope that a few interested people can pop in for an after–work drink and chat about how we can make the festival happen," Ms Dymond said.

"If this doesn't work, it will be the end of an era and a huge loss for our community.

"We hope to see many new faces that will help keep our festival alive."

The meeting will be held on Monday, June 20 at the Myrtleford Hotel at 5.30pm.

For more information email info@themyrtlefordfestival.com.au.