Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival canceled
BUCYRUS — A little over a week after announcing that the 2020 Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival was on, organizers announced Tuesday evening that the event, scheduled for Aug. 13-15, has been canceled.
Organizers cited discussions with local officials, feedback from the public and concerns about a possible COVID-19 outbreak in a local school district for the decision.
It’s disappointing, festival director Kevin Myers said after the decision to cancel was announced.
“It is what it is,” Myers said. “The world’s a different place now than it was last year, and we’re all trying to learn to live within what’s allowed and what’s not allowed.
“Like we said, we really hoped we were going to be able to put a safe event on, and between the State of Ohio, the obligations we have to meet with them, and a little bit of the public sentiment I guess that we’ve gotten that was negative, we felt it was the prudent thing to do,” Myers said.
On July 6, the festival committee voted to proceed with the event “in an attempt to offer our community the opportunity to return to something enjoyable and provide a sense of normalcy,” the organization said in a news release.
After the announcement, committee members received much feedback, both negative and positive. “The last thing we wanted to do was to further divide our community,” Tuesday’s news release stated.
Over the weekend, Bucyrus school officials shut down summer athletic programs for two weeks after learning students may have been exposed to COVID-19.
Kate Siefert, health commissioner of Crawford County Public Health, said Monday that officials are waiting for test results for a student athlete who has been exposed to the novel coronavirus.
After continued talks with local elected officials, Crawford County Public Health and Crawford County EMA, festival committee members decided canceling the festival would be “prudent,” the release states: “The safety of our community is important to us.”
The release stated that the volunteers who “pour their heart and soul into promoting and presenting the festival every year” will now transition into planning the 2021 event, which will pay tribute to Bucyrus’ bicentennial. The 2021 festival is set for Aug. 19-21.