The Dufferin Agricultural Society (DAS) has made the decision to cancel the 2020 Carman Country Fair due to COVID -19 concerns.

“We take tradition pretty seriously. We’re the longest consecutive running fair west of Southern Ontario," said DAS President Dale Reimer. "140 consecutive years, it’s really hard to pull the trigger and say no but at the same time we’re a charity which to us means that our goal has to be the well-being of the community," he added.

The annual Carman Country Fair takes place at the beginning of July.

Reimer says that taking care of the community and it’s members is their first priority, and putting people at risk isn’t acceptable.

“It attracts people from all over. We frequently do get people from the States and other provinces so the spread that that creates is just extra irresponsible.”

There have been years where changes were made to the festival, like during the Great Depression, but this is the first time it has been completely cancelled.

Economic concerns also played a role in the decision to cancel the 2020 event.

“Eighty to ninety percent of our revenue is sponsorship, so to go out and ask all of these small businesses that have been so loyal and so supportive of us – to ask them for their last dollars… We can’t do that.”

Reimer notes that if they try to forge ahead without that financial support, it could jeopardize the future for at least the next few years.

“With the uncertainty around money, we’re just going to put ourselves deeper and deeper into the hole before we end up cancelling it anyway. So we had to make the call now and we’ll see what the future holds.”

Planning for the fair usually starts in November, but financial commitments only start happening around spring.

“If there’s anything else we can put together by all means we’ll do our best, but we can’t plan for that,” adds Reimer.