ANN ARBOR, Mich. - One of the country's largest art fairs has been canceled due to complications with outdoor COVID-19 protocols in Michigan.
The Ann Arbor Art Fair, which hosts thousands of vendors and half a million visitors is one of the largest exhibitions of art in the country and a huge draw for the city of Ann Arbor.
However, the directors of the fair made the joint decision to cancel the event after determining "it would be impossible to move forward with this year's event."
"We can truthfully say that we tried everything we could to make it work with COVID protocols, but the bottom line is that outdoor gathering restrictions would need to be totally lifted before we could proceed," read a statement from Mo Riley, director of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair.
Currently, state protocol mandates that large event gatherings like this must include physical distancing protocols, contact tracing capabilities, and capacity limits of 300 people.
While organizers of the event believe those restrictions would be lifted by the time the fair would be scheduled to start, but there was no guarantee that would happen.
"This was an extremely difficult decision, as we know how deeply this impacts the participating artists, local businesses, and the broader Ann Arbor community," said Riley.
The event cancellation is unfortunate for the city and Washtenaw County, which estimates the art fair helps contribute to the more than a billion dollars that tourism brings to the local economy.
In the past, the Ann Arbor Art Fair filled 30 blocks of the city. The single event is actually three different nonprofit-driven events run consecutively; the art fair, the street art fair, the summer art fair, and the state street art fair.