New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
What can’t you do?
Local summer fairs, festivals nixed amid pandemic
Most fairs, festivals and concerts are canceled, including the Greenwich Town Party, Savin Rock Festival ...
One way or another, there will be plenty of fun to be had this spring, summer and fall, coronavirus or no coronavirus. It just won’t involve many of the local seasonal fairs and festivals that provide the touchstones with which we mark the change of season.
Last week alone, both the Milford Oyster Festival and the Norwalk Oyster Festival — two of Connecticut’s largest summer parties — were canceled, along with the Guilford Fair, the Goshen Fair, the North Branford Potato and Corn Festival and Middletown Pride 2020, among others.
The week before, it was the Durham Fair, Connecticut’s largest agricultural fair, and the Orange Volunteer Firemen’s Carnival.
Prior to that it was the Branford Festival and West Haven’s Savin Rock Festival, among many others.
If you’re wondering about a favorite festival not mentioned here, chances are it won’t happen — although many late-season fairs and festivals, including the East Haven Fall Festival, the North Haven Fair and the Labor Day weekend Odyssey: A Greek Festival at St. Barbara’s Greek Orthodox Church in Orange had yet to make announcements as of last week.
In most of those cases, it’s not just the organizer and the fairgoers who suffer. Many area festivals are big fundraising opportunities for community groups and nonprofits.
“As a result of the health concerns with the COVID-19 virus and with much regret, the Board of Directors of the Milford Oyster Festival has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Oyster Festival scheduled for August 15th,” said Oyster Festival President Jay Pinto in his announcement Wednesday.
“The safety of our dedicated festival goers, ven