The Regional Australia Bank Dubbo Chamber of Commerce 25th Rhino Awards Gala Night would not go ahead in October 2021, the chamber announced on Thursday.

It has cited the COVID situation and the unknown of restrictions as the state comes out of lockdown, and wants to give business owners time to "recover and focus on their businesses".

It had the brighter news that it had secured Friday February 4, 2022 at the Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre to host the 25th Rhino Awards.

The chamber is encouraging the community to save the date.

The business peak body had also been due to announce the award finalists last Friday at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, but was then unable to hold the event.

Instead it will be bringing the finalists announcement virtually on October 7, and referred people to Facebook for more details.

The chamber thanked all sponsors for their continued support.

"The year has been a roller coaster for the business community, with this current lockdown period really testing the resilience of business owners and their employees," chamber president Matt Wright said.

"With the hope of emerging from this current situation in October, we hope businesses can spend the remainder of the year focussing on recovery.

"With this considered, and with the current uncertainty surrounding events and gathering, we've made the decision to postpone these two key dates of the Rhino Awards.

"We especially look forward to starting the new year with a celebration of Dubbo business and recognising those category winners in February."

The Rhino Awards were cancelled because of COVID in 2020, and instead a Salute to Dubbo Business night was held instead.