LEBANON — As the number of new coronavirus cases continues to climb in the Twin States, fairs, markets and other popular summer events hang in the balance.
On Thursday, officials with the popular Chelsea Flea Market, an annual summer market since 1972, announced that they were canceling the July 11 event.
“We felt that there was no way we can determine to what extent the pandemic will continue in Vermont during the coming months,” Phyllis Hayward, a representative for the market, wrote in an announcement on Front Porch Forum on Thursday. Vendors will be offered a refund or a secure spot at the 2021 fair, she said in the post.
The market is just one of several summer and early fall events in and around the Upper Valley that are feeling the effects of the virus. Last week, organizers of the Quechee Hot Air Balloon, Craft and Music Festival announced they were postponing the popular June event until September.
The Bradford (Vt.) Fair, which typically draws around 1,200 people a day over four days in the summer, decided last week to cancel its July 16 event, according to Bradford Fair president Ron Taylor.
He blames the decision on uncertainty regarding the virus as well as a drop in fundraising. He said he believes a lot of fairgoers wouldn’t have the ability to come and spend money at the event anyway.
“A lot of people are afraid to go out and that’s not going to change for a long time,” he said.
Two other popular Upper Valley fairs — the Tunbridge World’s Fair and the Cornish Fair — are still weighing their options.
Tunbridge World’s Fair Vice President Geordie Barnaby said he’s not sure how the mid-September event will be affected or whether there’s been any impact on funding, largely because fair officials haven’t yet held a meeting due to social distancing orders.
When they do get a chance to talk, he said they might consider downsizing the fair, but for now they’re planning on going forward.
“At this point we don’t plan on canceling anything. … We’ll probably hang on,” he said.
The same goes for the Cornish Fair, which is still planned for Aug. 21-23, according to Meriden resident Steve Taylor, one of the organizers. He said the fair relies mostly on donations from banks and local businesses, rather than fundraising events.
“I know we can do a lot of the fair without fundraising,” he said.
But Taylor said he is concerned about whether distancing orders prohibiting large crowds will still be in place during the late summer.
“It’s perilous,” Taylor said, adding that a decision to cancel the fair would be “devastating” to the community, including children in 4-H and local vendors who rely on the revenue. “I’m just worried.”
On Thursday, Cornish Fair Secretary Glenn Thornton sent an email to organizers assuring them the fair isn’t canceled, but that fair officers are planning a weekend-long meeting to discuss their options in May.
“We still have a small opportunity to make it work this year, but that will all depend on lots of different factors,” Thornton wrote in the email, adding that those factors include the availability of vendors, sponsors and entertainment, as well as how long state and federal regulations about social distancing will last.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.