One of the great joys of summertime in our neck of the woods is attending the community, county and state fairs, church carnivals and festivals, Musikfest and the Allentown Fair.

With the arrival of COVID-19 in February and the likelihood that there will be constraints on large gatherings between now and the end of the year, the likelihood of these beloved traditions of summer occurring is becoming more uncertain with each passing day.

The cancellations of the Carbon County Fair, scheduled for Aug. 3-8; the Schuylkill County Fair, July 27- Aug. 1; the West End Fair in Monroe County, Aug. 23-29, and the Summit Hill Hootenanny on June 28 are the staples of summer that will not come to pass in 2020.

The writing has been pretty much on the wall given Pennsylvania’s three color-coded system of red, yellow and green. Even in the best-case scenario, the largest gathering permitted is 250 in the “green” phase. Planning is ongoing to determine what will be allowed once counties have been in the “green” phase for a period of time, particularly if we do not see a recurrence of high cases.

Pennsylvanians are chafing at the restrictions imposed by Gov. Tom Wolf when he declared a state of emergency on March 6 and issued stay-at-home orders.

Some wonder why major protests surrounding the death of African-American George Floyd, including those in our area, were permitted - one even including the governor himself. Some of these protests attracted thousands of participants, none of whom observed the recommended social-distancing protocols and only some who wore protective facial coverings as strongly recommended.

I remember with such joy boyhood memories of my attending the Carbon County Fair with my parents and friends. In the past several years, I have attended fairs in Schnecksville, the West End and the Warren County (New Jersey) Farmers Fair near Harmony outside of Phillipsburg. After all, I am an honorary member of the Future Farmers of America, so I love showing up at these annual events to see what FFA members are up to and to see their animals and displays.

Carbon County Fair organizers said concern over the FFA youngsters was one of the major factors that went into the decision to cancel this year’s fair.

According to a notice on the West End Fair website, a Celebration Fest will be held from 4-9:30 p.m. July 3 at the fairgrounds. This, of course, will be a much smaller event than the annual fair.

I feel sorry for organizers of these events who are anguishing over what might happen with such an unpredictable pandemic. There might be another flare-up after counties open up, there might be complications from this virus whose characteristics are still being learned, and, of course, they are clueless as to what officials will allow them to do since it will be based on what the data show.

Decisions to cancel events are not easy, and each is made by local organizers with the safety of fairgoers, staff and the community in mind.

The whole idea of a fair is to walk the midway, shoulder-to-shoulder, enjoying the sights, sounds and smells. In the past, health risks were not more than a passing thought for most of us; at such a gathering this year, even assuming there are any, an individual’s health will be top of mind awareness.

Two other traditional community fairs have been canceled - the Schnecksville Fair scheduled for June 16-20 in Lehigh County and the Kempton Fair in Berks County scheduled for June 18-25.

In addition, the Mayfair Festival of the Arts in Allentown, scheduled for May, was canceled.

The Bloomsburg Fair, scheduled for Sept. 25-Oct. 3 is still on, and all of its big-name acts, including Brad Paisley and Chicago, are still scheduled to perform.

Even Musikfest, the largest regional event that brings about 1 million fest-goers to Bethlehem each year, has decided to cancel the traditional program and replace it with a virtual event that will run from July 31 to Aug. 19. The virtual program will feature 40 performances by bands and performers airing live from the Service Electric Cable TV studios.

The Allentown Fair is scheduled for Sept. 1-7. A decision on whether it will be held in some fashion will be made by late June, according to officials.

Organizers of fairs who have not made a decision are urged to have a Plan B ready to go that includes infection control measures based on state and federal guidelines. They also are being urged to communicate with local elected officials and law enforcement and emergency personnel for guidance.

Organizers of some of these perennial events are concerned not only about the pandemic itself and its impact on everyone involved but also of potential liability issues.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com