Dear Bayfest friends, supporters and the Port Rowan community,

We wanted to take a minute to update you on our plans for Bayfest 2020.

Our annual festival is a long standing tradition in Port Rowan and with everything that is happening with COVID-19 right now, we were hopeful that this annual tradition would be able to bring the community together and celebrate as we normally would on Labour Day.

The committee has been mulling this decision over since this pandemic started, but unfortunately, we have to cancel Bayfest for this year. It is disheartening for us, as it is for our community we are sure, but we want to keep the safety and health of our community our top priority. With no clear outline on when people will be able gather in groups let alone in large setting such as a community festival, the committee cannot properly plan for an event of this scale.

The festival also relies heavily on local community support, business donations and sponsorships, and we cannot ask local business to support us, some who have not been open for many weeks, when they will need the community to support them when that time comes and they can reopen.

We were optimistic that we would be able to continue in some capacity this year on a smaller scale such as a one day event, but we have also been notified that Norfolk County, will not be issuing special event permits till at least September 7th 2020, so we are unable to proceed with any smaller type event.

We want to thank you and the business community for supporting us year after year, we will still be selling tickets and holding our Gun Raffle to be drawn September 4th, 2020 as previously announced. You can contact a Bayfest Committee member who will ensure you can purchase a ticket/s.

As hard as this is, the committee will continue to fund-raise when we are able to, and we will continue to plan for next year and focus on bringing new exciting things to Bayfest in 2021. We want to ensure this great tradition continues, in a town we are all proud to call home.

We hope everyone stays safe and takes care of each other in this great community.

Your Bayfest Committee