CANBY — Concerns over COVID-19 have canceled or put a hold on many public gatherings this year — and now the Yellow Medicine County Fair is one of them.

In a Facebook post Tuesday night, members of the Yellow Medicine County Fair Board said they would be canceling this year’s fair because of COVID-19 risks. The fair had been scheduled for July 22-25, in Canby.

“We were hoping not to have to make this kind of an announcement,” fair board president Brandon Carlson said in the post. “In light of the current restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fair board has discussed various options such as social distancing, seating, disinfecting, and all things required to run a ‘normal’ fair, it was apparent that it would be impossible to host a fair this year.”

“The health and safety of our entire community, guests, volunteers vendors and exhibitors is our top priority,” Carlson said. “With that in mind, we cannot risk people becoming ill in connection with a large scale gathering such as the fair.”

While the 2020 fair will be canceled, along with open-class exhibits, Carlson said the fair board will still help the 4-H program in Yellow Medicine County in any way it can. Carlson acknowledged that 4-H youth members have put a lot of hard work into their projects. He said the fair board also would like to thank the community, volunteers and exhibitors for their continued support.

“Although we are postponing the fair until 2021, we are making plans for a bigger and better fair next year,” Carlson said in the announcement. Maintenance and improvements at the fairgrounds will continue to prepare for the next fair, he said.