On Thursday, organizers of the N.C. Blueberry Festival announced the event would be canceled for 2021 as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and resulting state restrictions on mass gatherings.
“This decision is very difficult to make, but we do it to keep our vendors, volunteers and visitors safe,” said Pete Cowan, the festival’s sponsorship chairman, in a press release. “The Blueberry Festival Board has looked at this from all sides; and we cannot get around the fact that the festival attracts over 40,000 people and current state mandates on outdoor gatherings just won’t allow us to hold the festival.”