COVID-19 is causing organizers of annual agricultural festivals in Oklahoma to be cancelled, and some think it will have an adverse effect on the economies of the rural towns that host them.
Events like the Rush Springs Watermelon Festival typically welcomes 20,000 visitors and serves 50,000 pounds of the state’s official vegetable every August. But like many festivals and agritourism events around the state, it’s been cancelled due COVID-19.
“I don't know what kind of economic impact it will really have yet, but it'll definitely have some because it'll sure hurt our business,” Joel Tumbleson, a watermelon farmer in the area, said. “We have a fruit stand and we have a lot of visitors and a lot of people buying watermelon and cantaloupe that day.”
Mary Hill, the chair of the festival, said this is the first time the event has not happened since World War II. She said the festival’s cancellation will also affect the school, which has organizations that fundraise during the festival.
Other towns in Oklahoma that are traditionally hosts to festivals have also cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. Alan Parnell, chairman of the Porter Peach Festival, said the festival was cancelled because the event is too large to socially distance and prevent the spread of the virus.
“We bring 10,000 people into a two-block area,” Parnell said.
The Stilwell Strawberry Festival originally delayed its event to September, but recently cancelled after the Stillwell City Council rescinded the event’s permit. Several of the festival's events instead took place online, including strawberry judging and auction which occurred in May.
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