Anne Arundel County Fair Canceled Because Of Coronavirus

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — With coronavirus continuing to disrupt Maryland gatherings, the Anne Arundel County Fair became the latest event to cancel its 2020 festivities. The fair was scheduled for Sept. 16 through Sept. 20.

The fair's board of directors announced its decision Wednesday. The board also canceled the fair's Halloween happening, a haunted barn and hayride slated for October.

An announcement on the fair's website says the fair will return "in its entirety next year with the vaccine available." Next year's county fair is scheduled for Sept. 15 though Sept. 19, 2021.

"After the pandemic wave hit [Maryland] in March and government mandates began we knew this would be a challenging year," fair President John Kozenski Jr. wrote on its website. "This was solely decided to protect our volunteers, our exhibitors, the citizens of our community, and those who work on the fairgrounds from possible exposure to this potentially deadly virus."

The fair plans to create an online exhibit to display exhibitor's work. Updates on this virtual alternative will be available on the fair's website in the coming weeks.

This year's livestock shows are not canceled, however. The shows will only be open to the involved exhibitors.

The youth's livestock auction will continue as scheduled on Sept. 19. Only registered bidders are allowed to attend. The fair is still ironing out a safety plan for the auction.

The Maryland Renaissance Festival, another late summer gathering in Crownsville, has not officially canceled its 2020 season. The festivities are currently slated to start on Aug. 29.

A previous version of this article said that the Maryland Renaissance Festival and the Anne Arundel County Fair shared a home. Both events take place in Crownsville, but they have different locations.