The Horsefly River Salmon Festival scheduled for Sept. 11-12 has been called off.
The Horsefly River Roundtable announced the difficult decision on Thursday, Sept. 2 citing health concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and gathering guidelines for the Interior Health region.
“The salmon festival has been cancelled, however, there are salmon,” the Horsefly River Roundtable noted in a Facebook update.
“You are encouraged to observe COVID protocols and come walk the trails, read the KIOSKS and see some fish.”
Helen Englund, director with the Horsefly River Roundtable, said after lengthy discussion among board members and community members, she believes it was the right choice.
READ MORE: Horsefly River Salmon Festival set to go for 2019
“With the different variants going around and, especially, with younger people who don’t really have a choice in vaccination or not — basically most of our visitors are the younger generation,” Englund said.
“We also did a little survey in the community and I think there was more hesitation in the community this year than even last year so we just thought it would be better to not have it this year.”
During a normal year, the Horsefly River Roundtable invites multiple vendors, a salmon dissection table, kids’ arts and crafts, performers and informational and educational booths to set up on site, adding to the festival atmosphere.
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