Despite many events being postponed or cancelled, the President of the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition says they are going to weather the COVID-19 storm.
Al Law says they’ve lost countless wedding shags, the Spring Home and Garden Show and ThunderCon, with most postponing their events for the following year.
Although Law said earlier today they were hoping to hold a Board of Director’s meeting next week to make the decision on whether or not to cancel the August family fair, the organization has since posted on social media they are officially cancelling it.
The President at the time told us it was looking like it would be cancelled because of physical distancing rules and restrictions of group gatherings.
“You just have to deal with and move on and hopefully your tenants can get through and hopefully the CLE can move on once it’s over,” Law said.
The fair was scheduled for August 5th to the 9th.
The CLE President says he’s been with the organization for 36 years and this is the first time in his history that the fair has been postponed.
He says he isn’t sure though what happened during the First and Second World Wars, noting this summer’s event was to be the 129th year for the fair.
“It’s unfortunate but it’s got to be for public safety, for staff and volunteers, you just have to live with the times and it doesn’t make sense to have a fair with all the rules and no large gatherings being allowed,” Law noted other major fairs like the Red River EX had to cancel as well.
Law admits most of the talk in the community has been that people don’t want the fair to be held during the pandemic.
The CLE has applied for federal government programs to help subsidize their programs and also applied for funding for their tenants for rent support.
