***UPDATE: Crabapple Fest on April 21, 2020 has been canceled.***
Despite the City’s high hopes, Crabapple Fest will not take place this spring.
The COVID-19 pandemic – and, with it, restrictions on how many people could gather in one place – originally prompted planners to move Crabapple Fest from its traditional fall date to April 2021.
The hope was that the virus would have abated by then, and with it requirements for people to social distance.
Instead, in recent weeks especially, the opposite has happened. The number of coronavirus-related cases, hospitalizations and deaths has surged nationwide and right here in Georgia.
We understand fully the importance of keeping our vendors, service providers and entertainment providers safe, not to mention the general public, and giving our vendors, service providers and entertainment sufficient time to plan ahead.
There is so much we can’t predict (including how well, how fast and how effective a vaccination program might be). And we believe a last-minute cancellation would be exceedingly unfair to those, like you, who make Crabapple Fest so special.
We must make a decision now based off the current facts, not our dreams for the future.
An event of this scale requires months of preparation and a wide range of advanced commitments to be a success.
And we have high standards for Crabapple Fest, so it’s important to us that anything with that name is the best it can be. We’d rather not have a diluted Crabapple Fest without the spirit, scope or top quality that the community has come to expect.
Thus, the City and its proud partner, the Crabapple Community Association, opted to cancel a spring Crabapple Fest and, with it, the prospect of tens of thousands gathering in Milton’s downtown in the not-too-distant future.
Given what’s transpired in 2020 and the public’s strong desire for such events when the time is right, we are committed more than ever to making the next Crabapple Fest, in October 2021, even bigger and better than before.
We look forward to welcoming the highest quality vendors, food and entertainment, which is why we welcome your involvement.
And we’re cautiously optimistic that October 2021 will be much different, giving the opportunity once again to gather safely in large numbers.
So while we’re disappointed, we’re also enthusiastic about the future.
Milton is a great community with so much to celebrate. And, when it’s safe, we’ll be ready to go.
