Fryburg Mayfest Canceled Due to COVID-19

Chris Rossetti

Chris Rossetti

Published April 21, 2020 4:30 am
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MayfestFRYBURG, Pa. (EYT) — Fryburg Mayfest 2020 won’t be held this year because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“It is with great sadness that the Washington Township Community Association has decided to cancel Mayfest 2020,” a post on Facebook by Fryburg Mayfest said. “This difficult decision is due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The safety, health, and well-being of our community are very important to us. Please continue to stay safe and try to support our local sponsors. We look forward to the biggest and best Mayfest celebration in 2021.”

The event had been scheduled for May 22 and May 23, the Friday and Saturday prior to Memorial Day.

Gina Fernandes, one of the organizers of Fryburg Mayfest, told exploreClarion that while the event is canceled, there is a chance something else could be done to celebrate the community this summer if restrictions on gatherings are lifted.

“We might still try to find some way to celebrate the community and do something later in the summer,” Fernandes said. “What it looks like, who knows? We have to get close to the end of the pandemic. Washington Township residents are important to us. If we are able to do something, we would love to. But, it is too soon to say if we will be able to. We have to get back to regular days before we can make those determinations.”

Fernandes said the committee struggled with whether to move Mayfest itself to June or July.

“When you look around the community in this part of Clarion County, the northern part of the county, you have St. Joseph’s Fourth of July and the Labor Day Festival. We don’t want to compete with other festivals. We want to be respectful and supportive of them.”

It also made sense for the regular sponsors of Mayfest to cancel this year, according to Fernandes.

“Some of those sponsors might not even be able to do it this year because they are currently closed,” Fernandes said. “It just made sense for the sponsors to move it to next year.”

The sponsors who signed on to sponsor this year will get the same advertising package next year they would have received this year, Fernandes added.

“We are so appreciative of all of our sponsors,” Fernandes said. “Without them, we couldn’t put on Mayfest. We wanted to reach out to them before we made any announcement about canceling.”

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