With the ongoing threat of the novel coronavirus, most annual community festivals will not be happening this summer.

To honor social distancing recommendations and give space to donors who are under extra financial stress, many of southeastern Manitoba’s usual events have been canceled altogether.

Landmark Friendship Festival Co-Chair Crystal Nelson cites those reasons for her event’s recently announced closure.

“The Friendship Festival relies on donations,” she says, “and the vast majority of our sponsors are small businesses. Because we don’t know what is happening, we don’t want to put any extra financial pressure on them right now.”

Dustin Krahn of the Niverville Olde Tyme Country Fair shared a similar sentiment when asked why they yielded to the virus.

“As a committee, we didn’t feel that it was the most respectful time to go out and ask our people for financial support and that makes it very challenging to proceed.”

Meanwhile, Hanover Recreation Coordinator Jason Peters says it's the same story throughout his rural municipality. Both Blumenort and New Bothwell have given up on this year’s “Fun and Fair Days” plans and, while no such decisive announcement has been made by Mitchell Fun Days, the Kleefeld Honey Festival, or the Hanover Ag Fair, Peters expects it is only a matter of time.

Karen Hopkins, the Chair of the Blumenort fair provides some additional reasoning to the growing list of cancellations. Even if restrictions began lifting by the end of April, the Federal Government has indicated businesses would go back to normal long before gathering limits began easing. “Which could mean the end of August,” she says. “And, seeing as how we usually get between 600 and 700 people for breakfast alone, we would definitely fall into the ‘crowded location’ group.”

Still, Hopkins is holding onto hope that some kind of compensatory event can still take place at the tail end of the sunny season.

“We are planning a community breakfast hosted by the RM of Hanover and Blumenort LUD towards the end of the summer,” she states. “We will continue to monitor the situation, but for now, this is the plan.”

Whether postponing, altering, or entirely dismissing their plans, all organizers share the same unanimous feeling: the lack of these festivals may very well leave a gap in the region, but it will also provide the opportunity of making next year’s celebrations bigger and better.

Read more: Summer In The City Officially Cancelled