OCEAN CITY, Md.- The Ocean City Council unanimously voted earlier this week to cancel this fall's Sunfest.
Ocean City Communications Director Jessica Waters says that there were too many hurdles to overcome for the city to pull-off Sunfest safely. Waters says, "Sunfest really presented some challenges not only to meet the requirements from the health department [Worcester County Health Department] but from the state."
The town's website says, "the fall is a wonderful season here in Ocean City and although we will not be having Sunfest this year, we do look forward to 2021!"
"Sunfest is a huge draw to the city and it adds a lot of income to the businesses along the boardwalk," says manager Jay Knerr of the Kite Loft on the Ocean City Boardwalk. Knerr says that he believes not having Sunfest will "be a hit for us".
Sunfest is not the only off-season parade canceled on Delmarva. Rehoboth Beach's annual Sea Witch Festival was canceled because of virus concerns as well. Business owners say that it does not come as a surprise. "We understand as merchants... it's just the situation that we're in with COVID and trying to be safe."
The Ocean City council is looking into another fall event to replace Sunfest. This new fall event would be spread out throughout the entire town and much smaller in terms of vendors. The goal is for the event to comply with social distancing policies while also hosting a fall event that can benefit businesses.