Jim Thorpe’s annual Fall Festival draws thousands of visitors to town throughout the month of October. And amid the COVID-19 pandemic, that popularity is the reason why the organizers have decided to cancel the event for 2020.

But they are still encouraging visitors to ‘fall in love’ with the Victorian downtown, as well as the shops and restaurants which have finally reopened following the months-long COVID-19 shutdown.

“It’s been a hard decision, but we’ve seen almost every festival in Carbon County go,” said James Dougher, president of Jim Thorpe Tourism Agency. “It’s prudent to do what we need to do as a tourist agency to promote safety.”

JTTA announced Thursday that they will not organize fall festival weekends in 2020. They have canceled plans for craft and food vendors in Josiah White Park, as well as the parking shuttle to and from Mauch Chunk Lake.

Instead, they’ll be promoting the town’s merchants and their special menus and sales for the fall season.

Holding the full festival and following CDC and Department of Health recommendations would be difficult, Dougher said.

Typically JTTA and a group of local volunteers park hundreds of cars at Mauch Chunk Lake and provide shuttle service into town. But it would be nearly impossible to observe social distancing and provide efficient service.

“A bus that normally holds 46 people now is at most 23-24 people,” he said.

There will still be parking available in the downtown parking lots, which in total hold more than 400 cars. Additional parking arrangements could be announced as the fall season approaches.

JTTA is embracing the slogan “Fall in love with Jim Thorpe” to get visitors downtown this year. The hope is that while craft vendors aren’t available, visitors will want to visit the locally-owned boutique shops, with sales planned to encourage business.

The town’s restaurants are operating at 50 percent capacity indoors, and many of them are offering outdoor dining. Many restaurants will also have seasonal menus and specials available.

Many of those businesses were ordered to close for three months to comply with the Governor’s orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19. After three tough months locked down, they’re eager to welcome back their customers.

“Fall in love with all of the things going on in Jim Thorpe. Certainly the hiking, biking and whitewater rafting which will still be going on, but all the merchants and the restaurants and the beauty and charm the town has to offer naturally,” Dougher said.

Individual businesses have taken precautions to make sure customers feel safe when they’re coming in the store.

The tourism agency is also encouraging everyone to follow merchants’ guidelines as well as the CDC and Department of Health’s recommendations for preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Dougher said when they looked at how many other events were being canceled in 2020, the tourism agency decided it should not be encouraging a large gathering without providing enough space for social distancing.

“We’re a tourist-based town and we want people to come. We just want people to come safely for our own community and safely for themselves as well,” he said.