The Katherine NAIDOC organising committee made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon to postpone the festival, which had events scheduled from July 4 to 11.

The decision has come in the wake of the COVID outbreak, with Greater Darwin locked down until Friday 1pm.

While the Katherine region has not been included in the lockdown zone, Northern Territory chief health officer Dr Hugh Heggie has encouraged people outside of Darwin to stay at home and rethink any big social gatherings.

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Katherine NAIDOC organising committee chairperson Dale Hillen said it was with "great regret" that they had to postpone the 2021 NAIDOC celebrations.

He said they would look to find a new date for the event.

"We believe it is in the best interests of all the people in our community that we take every precaution necessary to ensure there is no spread in the Katherine area," he said.

"There has been a load of work done in preparation for this year's event.

"The festival is an important part of Katherine's calendar of events and it will be rescheduled sooner rather than later in the year."

Mr Hillen said while it was a blow to have to postpone NAIDOC Week events for the second year in succession, he said community safety was the "number one priority".

"Now that it is in the Territory it is safer to keep people at home for now," he said.

Other events are also under threat, with the Katherine and District Show Society noting earlier on Tuesday it would be making a decision next Monday on whether to run The Katherine Show and Rodeo, scheduled for mid-July.

The committee said it would like to thank all of its sponsors and event organisers, and would keep the Katherine community informed of the new dates when the crisis is over.

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