Hesperia Family Fun Fest canceled.

Hesperia Family Fun Fest canceled.

HESPERIA — The Hesperia Family Fest, which takes place annually over the Fourth of July holiday, has been canceled due to COVID-19.

“It is with deep regret that I inform you of our recent decision to cancel our 2020 Hesperia Family Fun Fest,” states President Scott Rumsey in a post on the Hesperia Area Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page. “Our executive board met recently and discussed at great length the possibility of having at least a portion of our festival, but with the continued uncertainty in our state due to the COVID-19 pandemic we feel the most responsible decision at this point is to cancel the festival.

“There were several contributing factors in making our decision regarding the 2020 festival. With the current state of shutdown implemented by the State of Michigan, and the tentative plan to reopen our economy, the timelines involved make it very clear that we are not going to have the Covid-19 issues behind us by the beginning of July. It is unlikely that large gatherings will be allowed for most of the summer. While social distancing can be used in some instances, we determined that events like our parade and our fireworks could not be held without jeopardizing the health of our community and opening the chamber up to possible liability.

“Our board also considered the difficulty we might have in fundraising for the 2020 fireworks. While we had a balance in our fireworks fund left from last year, we feel it would be unreasonable to ask local businesses to donate to this year’s event considering many of them have been closed due to the current state order.

“Our board is currently working on the possibility of some type of community event that might be held in the fall. We are hopeful that things will return to something closer to normal by the end of summer, and a gathering of our community would be welcomed by all as we all look forward to putting this pandemic behind us. Please look for correspondence on our Facebook page for further developments with your Hesperia Area Chamber of Commerce. We look forward to a festival that will be bigger and better than ever in 2021.”

Please consider helping fund local news. Oceana County Press is available for free thanks to the generous support of our advertisers and individuals who support our service.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

This story is copyrighted © 2020, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.