Fulton fair fans will have to wait until 2021 to hit the bricks and get their carnival food fix.
Fulton Street Fair committee members voted Friday to cancel the 2020 fair, planned for June 26-27.
"After staying hopeful, trying to hold out, working with the city and county and health department, it was just the safest thing to do for us to cancel the street fair this year," said committee Co-Chair Tiffany Cox.
The decision followed a meeting Friday between committee members, Fulton city officials and representatives from the Callaway County Health Department.
"The city was still in support (of potentially hosting the fair as planned), but we had to look at time constraints, food issues, sanitation," said Fulton Assistant Director of Administration Robert Boone.
The decision couldn't wait any longer, committee members said - the longer the delay, the more money the committee would have to refund to vendors, who order food and other supplies in advance for events such as the street fair.
Safety was another top consideration. New cases of COVID-19 continue to crop up in Callaway County - the CCHD announced the 29th case Monday. Of those 29, eight remain active. Missouri as a whole reported 180 new cases Monday, and Gov. Mike Parson recently extended the first phase of Missouri's reopening process to June 15.
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Though the virus appears less likely to be spread outdoors, committee members were reluctant to encourage a large crowd to gather in downtown Fulton. The street fair would have been Fulton's first major event since the pandemic reached the community.
"The street fair has a good reputation - we don't want to be on the national or state news for that, like after what happened at Lake of the Ozarks," said member Doc Kritzer.
Vacationers gathering at the lake over Memorial Day weekend drew widespread negative attention; since then, a party-goer has tested positive for the disease, The Associated Press reported.
"There's a time to be first, and this is not it," added committee Co-Chair Lauren Nelson.
Kritzer pointed out that the committee had already voted to cancel several family-oriented street fair events, including "Touch a Truck."
"There were only adult events left," he said. "It wouldn't have carried the family atmosphere the street fair usually has."
Though the committee considered rescheduling the fair later in the year, that ultimately proved impractical.
"We typically have a Friday-Saturday event, and so much is going to get crammed in from August to end of the year, it'd be difficult to reschedule bands," Kritzer said. "It's simpler to put it off 'til next year."
Nelson said the committee will refund vendors and community sponsors. Some funds will go toward supporting other community events, Cox said.
"Even though our event is canceled, we're still committed to finding ways to show our support in the community," Cox said. "We've budgeted money to use for community outreach - there's the Callaway 200 celebration coming up at end of August; we'd like to show our support for that event as well as the fireworks display coming up July 4."
She thanked committee members and community for their support.
"We appreciate the support, the people hanging on with us," Cox said. "This is not easy news to deliver, but we hope to be able to see everyone out next year."
To keep up with the latest Fulton Street Fair news, visit fultonstreetfair.com. The committee can be reached via email at [email protected].
This article was edited at 7:30 p.m. June 2, 2020, to correct information.