“I sat down and cried about it.” That’s how Chattahoochee Mountain Fair Operations Manager Brenda Kinsey describes the moment she realized that this year’s fair wasn’t going to happen.
Last week, organizers made the difficult call to cancel the Chattahoochee Mountain Fair as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of easing.
The fair has been a hallmark event in Northeast Georgia since it first opened in 1975. It was scheduled to be held this year from September 11 to September 19. Three years ago when Hurricane Irma hit, organizers canceled two days of the fair, but this is the first time it’s been canceled outright in its 45 year-long history.
Social distancing and sanitization guidelines were a consideration plus, right now, “we can’t get any permits to do food,” Kinsey says. Fair officials faced another setback two weeks ago when Dodge Ram pulled its $5,000 fair rodeo sponsorship. That money was nearly half of what it costs to run the rodeo. Add to those challenges the fact that many of the fair’s contracts have a 60-day cancellation clause in them and organizers can only hope the public will understand why the decision had to be made now.
“It has been, for the last few years, a big part of my life,” Kinsey tells Now Habersham. “I spend all this time planning and getting everything done and it’s just hard to think that there’s just not going to be a fair.”
If the COVID-19 situation improves later this year and they’re able to find another sponsor, Kinsey says the fair committee may host a standalone rodeo. They’re also considering the possibility of bringing in carnival rides during the time when the fair was supposed to be happening. However, anything they do will have to be on a small enough scale that it can be put together on short notice and managed in a way to protect public health and safety.
