Mardi Gras cancellation a wise move

Many Northeast Ohio residents are wondering if they’ll be able to attend the warmweather festivals that were canceled last year because of health and safety risks stemming from the novel coronavirus pandemic. However, one festival they already can scratch off their calendars for 2021 is the Fairport Mardi Gras.

The committee that plans and carries out the community celebration recently decided to cancel this year’s gala because of risks and complications created by the lingering novel coronavirus pandemic.

The 2021 Mardi Gras, which would have marked the event’s 80th anniversary, had been slated to take place from June 30 through July 4.

It marked the second straight year that the panel has called off the festival, which happens annually around the Fourth of July. The event traditionally begins with a parade, concludes with a fireworks display, and throughout its duration features plenty of rides, games, food and entertainment.

Predictably, the announcement of Mardi Gras being canceled became a popular topic of discussion on Facebook pages that focus on Fairport Harbor.

Many people expressed disappointment, but praised the all-volunteer committee for making a proper decision that puts the health and safety of the community first.

However, other commenters downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19 and said the committee made a mistake.

Mardi Gras Committee President Shannon Barnhill responded to those critics, saying that if they wanted to play a formal role in making decisions about the yearly gala, they should join the panel that administers the festival.

“Right now there are only about 15 of us running the entire event, so we’d be happy to have you,” she replied to several of the detractors.

Barnhill, in her Jan. 29 announcement, acknowledged that some people would say the decision to cancel the event was made too soon. However, with no way of predicting the potency of COVID-19 this summer, or what state restrictions will be in place for mass gatherings, it’s difficult for the Mardi Gras Committee to move forward with planning the event, she explained.

For example, she said that the committee typically secures commitments from entertainers, advertisers, concession and ride operators, a fireworks-display company and parade participants in the early part of the year.

“We do not feel it is fair to book dozens of small businesses over a holiday weekend, without full assurance that we will be able to hold up our end of the contract,” she said.

Figuring out how to protect the health and safety of festival visitors, vendors and performers from COVID-19, if it remains a formidable threat this summer, also would have been challenging, Barnhill noted.

“The logistics of holding a festival during a pandemic that draws tens of thousands of people over the course of the week is daunting, and ultimately not in the best interest of our small group of volunteers, the Village of Fairport Harbor, or the surrounding communities — all of whom we hold dear,” she said.

Give credit to Barnhill for making an effort to explain what it takes for small group of volunteers to sponsor and carry out a large-scale event such as Mardi Gras.

People who’ve only experienced the festival as spectators need to know about the behind-the-scenes work that is done many months ahead of the event’s opening day in late June.

Contracts need to be signed early with key participants such as vendors, amusement ride operators and a fireworks display company, who are busy lining up commitments for an entire summer.

And if COVID-19 is still going strong this summer, imagine how much extra work would be created to ensure festival visitors wore masks and maintained proper social distancing at all times. Granted, some of these guidelines and rules might not be in effect when summer arrives, but if they are, the committee would have to figure out ways to guarantee compliance.

Clearly, in the era of COVID-19, sponsors of events that qualify as mass gatherings face some serious liability issues.

So if the Fairport Mardi Gras committee decided to play it safe and hope that 2022 provides a safer environment for holding a large festival, we can’t fault them.

As the old saying goes, “It’s better to err on the side of caution.”