RURAL communities face many and varied challenges, and on the face of it, missing out on a local holiday for a local agricultural show may not seem the most pressing.

But last year's changes to Victoria's public holiday legislation, which stripped holidays from local shows and race meetings, hit a raw nerve for many regions doing it tough.

Local holidays have long underpinned the fortunes of country shows by boosting attendance and enabling show committee members and other volunteers to do their bit.

By forcing local councils to choose one event for a municipality-wide holiday or allocate the Melbourne Cup day, the Government was threatening to send some local events to the wall.

What the Government failed to realise was when small country events rely solely on volunteers and goodwill to run, making it harder for people to attend threatens the events' very survival.

The once-a-year get-together for all ages - the local agricultural show - is one of the few events still held in scores of country towns whose population is dwindling.

These shows are on a par with the local pub or the footy club when it comes to a small town's sense of community.

It was this small and fragile element of country life that the Government's amendments to public holiday legislation threatened.

The changes infuriated many communities and had the future of many local events in serious doubt.

Thankfully, this week the Government announced it had backed down.

It will not reverse the amendments it made to the legislation but has told councils they can request permission from Small Business and Agriculture Minister Joe Helper to gazette local holidays.

As a result, shire councils and local show and race committees are breathing a sigh of relief that common sense has finally prevailed.

For some of those events, the Government's backflip may mean the difference between remaining a permanent fixture on the local calendar, or disappearing forever.