ANN ARBOR (WWJ) -- For the second year in a row, COVID-19 restrictions have shut down the Ann Arbor Art Fair.
The festival’s Executive Director, Karen Delhey, says that with health orders restricting outdoor gatherings still in place, organizers felt unsure they would be able to pull together the festival in time for its scheduled July dates, and so they made the difficult decision to cancel the event.
“We’re eight weeks out and if [we were] going to have, needed to be able to move forward and plan,” she told WWJ’s Roberta Jasina. “Worst case scenario would be that we went forward and had something happen on-site where we had to shut down, and that would’ve just been awful.
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The three fairs that comprise the Ann Arbor Art Fair typically draw in 500,000 people over the course of four days, and bring in an estimated $15 million to Washtenaw County.
"This was an extremely difficult decision, as we know how deeply this impacts the participating artists, local businesses and the broader Ann Arbor community," a statement on the Art Fair's website said. "We ask our faithful audience to continue supporting our artists and small businesses during these difficult times. We hope you will join us when we return the third week in July 2022."