Feb 6, 2021
The COVID-19 ax fell on another local event Friday, as the 2021 Annual Ramps and Rail Festival was canceled due to health concerns surrounding large public gatherings.
This is the second year in a row that the Ramps and Rails Festival has been canceled because of COVID-19, making it one of the first local events to have suffered that fate twice. Let’s hope it doesn’t become a long list.
Already in 2021, the pandemic has forced the canceling of Fasnacht in Helvetia, and the Maple Syrup Festival in Pickens was canceled for the second straight year.
In 2020, the list of annual events that were canceled was long, including such major traditional crowdpleasers as the Mountain State Forest Festival, the West Virginia Strawberry Festival, Coalton Days and all the local county fairs.