One of Tamaqua’s biggest annual attractions will not be held in October.

The Tamaqua Historical Society announced Monday that the Tamaqua Heritage Festival will be put on hold until 2021.

“With the onset of COVID-19, we decided early on to cancel the Tamaqua Summerfest in June when everything was being shutdown,” said Dale Freudenberger, president of the Tamaqua Historical Society. “We decided to leave the date set for the Tamaqua Heritage Festival in October with hopes that the COVID-19 might disappear completely before then.”

Freudenberger said that decision was made on Monday at the society’s board of directors meeting.

“The majority felt that although things have improved since earlier this year, there is still a risk to the public at this time and for the foreseeable future. Therefore, the majority of the board felt we should not create any health risks for our community by encouraging a large crowd to gather at our downtown festival this year. We hope to be able to present both the Tamaqua Summerfest and Tamaqua Heritage Festival in 2021. We realize how disappointing it is to everyone who is usually involved with the festivals that we decided to cancel. We apologize for any inconvenience this decision may have caused.”