The 150th edition of the Forest Fall Fair is postponed.
President of the Forest Agricultural Society Everett Moons said due to existing provincial pandemic restrictions and health and safety concerns, this year's fair scheduled for September 25-27 is cancelled.
"A lot of our volunteers are over the age of 55," said Moons. "A lot of them are pretty gun-shy about being in public. Going to the grocery store is one thing, coming to see us with 5,000 to 8,000 people on the grounds at one time, probably not a good place to be if you're trying not to catch something."
Moons said over the last few years, the annual event saw between 15,000 and 17,000 people walk through the gates.
"The fact that we were trying to have our 150th anniversary, the intent was to have our biggest fair ever," said Moons. "We were ramping up the entertainment, we were ramping up the displays, everything, and we were going to do that badly if we had run it. We're still going to have our 150th fair but we're going to do it in 2021."
Both the Plympton-Wyoming Fall Fair and Petrolia and Enniskillen Fall Fairs have also cancelled their events in September.
Organizers in Brigden and Watford have not made a decision on their fairs, which are planned for October.
The Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies (OAAS) said it has received notifications from over 50 per cent of its members that their annual traditional fairs will not be held in 2020.