PARKER, Colo. — For a second consecutive year, the decades-long festival celebrating all things Parker has been canceled due to COVID-19.
Parker's mayor announced the cancellation Friday morning.
Parker Days had been held annually since the mid-1970s until last year. The festival was scheduled to be held this year from June 10-13.
>Video above: How live venues are faring after nearly a year without crowds
The Parker Chamber of Commerce, which puts on the event, released this statement Friday afternoon:
"Due to the uncertainty of potential restrictions by State and local health officials on large gatherings for this upcoming event season, the challenges of monitoring and enforcing social distancing of large events, and the amount of advance preparation necessary in order to facilitate the event, the Parker Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation has made the very difficult decision to cancel the 2021 Parker Days Festival. According to the CDC, events with the highest risk of spreading COVID-19 are large in-person gatherings where attendees come from outside the local area and maintaining social distance is difficult.
It remains unclear as to how or when large festivals and events will be able to resume and a festival of this nature takes considerable advanced planning and coordination. Many people work diligently to put on this event, including sponsors, vendors, volunteers and staff. Delaying this decision would result in many of these partners being left in a state of uncertainty and inability to make plans.
Therefore, while we are disappointed that we will not be able to provide a Parker Days Festival this year, we want to assure the community that the Chamber of Commerce staff is working hard to create exciting activities for Parker in the latter half of 2021, and we are looking forward to a spectacular Parker Days Festival in the near future once it is safe to again put on this great event."
Dates for 2022's Parker Days Festival has not yet been released.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Feature stories