The longest-running fall fair in Lambton County has fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 174th edition of the Plympton-Wyoming Fall Fair, scheduled for September 18 - 20, has been cancelled.
On its website, the Plympton-Wyoming Agricultural Society announced the executive made the difficult decision after long and meaningful discussions.
"This was not an easy decision to make, but it was one that was made for a variety of reasons - the main reason being the uncertainty of when the government will begin to allow festival type events to resume," the statement read. "Sponsorship is also a large part of what helps our event run and we cannot have a successful fair without their amazing support! We cannot in good conscience ask businesses for money in these financially stressful times when many of them have been closed."
Agricultural Society President Gary Atkinson said they're in the process of contacting their sponsors, vendors and other entertainment they had lined up for this year.
"Those events that we had planned or those that we had booked are very understanding and going to be forwarded on into 2021," said Atkinson. "We're going to look at starting to build on that now, so we have our jobs cut out for us for the year. We look forward to a good fair next year and welcoming the community back."
The Plympton-Wyoming Fall Fair is the second on the Lambton circuit for 2020 to be cancelled.
The Petrolia and Enniskillen Fall Fair was supposed to kick-off the season on September 11. The 154-year-old fair usually brings in about 20,000 people a year.