Officials Cancel 10K Run, Festival & Beer Garden Due To COVID-19 Fears
One of the biggest, most fun, everybody-who-ever-lived-here-comes-back-into-town events of the year in Manhattan Beach, CA, won’t take place in 2020.
Old Hometown Fair, with its morning 10K, craft and food booths and most of all, the beer garden, has been canceled due to lingering COVID-19 fears.
Officials made the dreaded announcement the end of June. Old Hometown Fair traditionally takes place the first weekend in October.
Below is the official statement from event organizers:
After much thought and consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel our Hometown Fair scheduled for October 3-4, 2020. We know many of you were looking forward to the festivities this fall. We assure you, no one is more disappointed than us. The Hometown Fair has always been a safe place to gather, perform and fundraise for 48 years. This decision was not taken lightly. Our priority has to be the health and safety of our community.
Our event typically welcomes 80,000+ attendees over fair weekend and we’re categorized under stage 4 of Governor Newsom’s reopening plan. As previously stated by the Governor, treatment or a vaccine would be necessary in order for us to reopen. An event of this scale doesn’t happen overnight. It’s therefore important that we make this decision at this time. For those that have submitted booth applications, refunds will be issued in the coming weeks.
In the spirit of tradition and giving back, the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair Association’s Board of Directors have approved $10,000 for grants. These grants will be distributed to our community clubs, boosters and non-profits.
For those that rely on our fair to raise money, we want to help. Applications will be available starting August 1st. We’ll award the grants fair weekend: October 3-4, 2020.
While we may not be able to meet in the traditional way, we do intend to have a strong community presence. Please check back and follow us on social media as we prepare to launch our online auction/raffle and merchandise store. We’ll also spotlight local artists and businesses.
Thank you on behalf of the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair Association’s Board of Directors:
Joe Marcy, President
Dana Old, Vice President & Director of Food
Jeanna Harkenrider, Treasurer
Karen Tokashiki, Secretary
Nellie Ambrose, Director of Games
Kari Carpino, Director of Volunteers
Diane Charvat, Director of South Stage
Tamarie Cuneo, Director of Arts & Crafts
Kim Edwards, Director of Information, Free Speech & Civic Corner
Mark Finley, Director of Main Stage
Renee Hall, Director of Food
Taylor Hartwig, Director of Community Showcase
Tom Jeffrey, Director of Kid Country
Anne Kelly, Director of Merchandise
Robert Manriquez, Director of Environmental Services & Communication
Mary Morigaki, Director of Wine Garden
Mary O’Keefe-Fay, Director of Community Relations
Betty Wan, Director of Publicity
Peter Yollin, Director of Traffic & Security
Bea Zimbalist, Director of Beer Garden
We will meet again – and like you, we can’t wait for that moment to come. See you on the fairgrounds October 2-3, 2021!
This folks, is unfortunately today’s reality.
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