However, the Cancer Council event will be held in an altered format.

Relay Chair Sharon Patrick said the organising committee's first concern is to keep the community safe.

"So this year we're asking teams to do their own activities in their own bubble sometime in March and we'll be sure to keep everyone updated throughout our planned activities on March 20," she said.

"Chance and Bec Hanlon and Steve White from UUU FM will be hosting a special Nowra Relay broadcast from 9am to 1pm which will include interviews with teams and fundraising updates, allowing teams to feel connected on the day."

All major ceremonies will also be shared on social media.

The Hope ceremony will this year be streamed live via the Nowra Relay for Life's Facebook page, so that those participating at home can still feel connected to other teams and the broader community.

A number of teams are already on board for this year's event. The Love Bears are planning a number of team activities to raise much-needed funds for the NSW Cancer Council.

On Saturday, March 20 they will be holding a garage sale and sausage sizzle at Lilac Close in Worrigee.

The Love Bears include team members who have been long-term participants, as well as some who are new to relay.

The team will hold a team dinner and their own hope and remembrance ceremony to coincide with the usual twilight Hope ceremony.

Meanwhile, the University of Wollongong's Shoalhaven campus is taking advantage of the flexible format and returning to Relay in 2021 after an absence of several years.

Campus manager Chris Hadley noted that it's an opportunity to bring new and returning students together, after the disrupted year students faced in 2020.

"We're going to pick a day after classes resume to have our own, smaller get-together," he said.

Registered students will fundraise by counting and recording their steps on a number of approved tracks at the local campus to create a team total.

For further information or to register, head over cancercouncil.org.au/nowrarelay.

Further details are also available from Cancer Council Community Relations Coordinator Brooke Manzione on 4223 0201.