CUMMINGTON — After being canceled for the first time in its history last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cummington Fair will be taking place in 2021.
“We are officially open for business,” said Albert Judd, the president of the board of directors of the Hillside Agricultural Society. The society runs the Cummington Fair and presides over the fairgrounds. The fair is scheduled to take place from Aug. 26-29.
“Everybody’s looking forward to having it,” said Kenneth “Trudge” Howes, a member of the board of directors. “It’s a good thing for the community.”
Howes, who also serves on the Cummington Select Board, said that a lot of organizations make money off the fair and that it’s a good family gathering. He also said that most vendors and food people for the fair have confirmed their intention to come.
The decision to move ahead with this year’s fair was made at a Friday night meeting of the Hillside Agricultural Society’s board of directors. “Things are better so we can go to work and do it,” said Judd.
He noted that the decision was not a unanimous one, as some board members expressed safety concerns. “We’re definitely going to be following state guidelines,” Judd said.
Karen Rida, secretary for the board of directors, expressed some reservations that the fair can return in its usual form, but said that she is excited to have it back.
“It’s a new year, and we’ll see what happens,” Rida said. “I think we had to take some steps to get to some kind of normal — I don’t think we’re there yet, and I don’t know if it will be the Cummington Fair it’s always been … but it’s good.”
Rida declined to say how she voted, but said that the board must go with its majority decision and will make provisions for those who still harbor discomfort over the reopening.
“I know a lot of people were pushing to get an answer in April or May, and we kept waiting for guidance from the state,” Rida said, “and of course the Board of Health has the final say too, it’s all given the go-ahead … Hopefully we’ll keep going in the positive direction.”
Judd said that the fair will follow whatever local guidelines are in place, and there may be safety measures that the society puts into place on its own, although what those would be have not been discussed yet. “I think people are ready to get out and get back to what was normal life before this happened,” Judd said
Staff writer Jacquelyn Voghel contributed to this report.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.