Canonsburg cancels Oktoberfest

Canonsburg announced Monday the cancelation of this year’s Oktoberfest, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a news release sent out by the borough’s chamber of commerce, the Pennsylvania Bavarian Oktoberfest, which is typically held the third week of September, brings in tens of thousands of people over the three-day festivities. Organizers said that because the state Department of Health has restricted outdoor gatherings to 250 people, the event had to be canceled.
“This has been a tough decision for everyone,” chamber president and Oktoberfest committee chairman A.J. Williams said in the news release. “The board of directors held out as long as possible in hopes of being able to pull the festival off this year.”
The borough also had to cancel its July 4 parade and festivities, and the cancelation of Oktoberfest, Williams said in an interview Monday, will have a “drastic” effect on commerce in the borough.
“Every business along that strip where the festival is will lose business,” he said. “They’ve just lost out on three days of tens of thousands of people walking past their business.”
Williams said the committee is already focusing on ways to make next year’s celebration “bigger and better,” according to the release.
“While we had wished that we could bring a sense of normalcy to Canonsburg and Washington County, it is more important to us that everyone remain safe and healthy,” he said in the release.
Canonsburg Mayor Dave Rhome said the committee and borough officials had many conversations with business owners and residents who had really hoped the festival would still happen this year.
“In the world we’re living in today, there’s so many uncertainties,” Rhome said. “In light of safety, we have to err on the side of caution for the safety of everyone. God willing, we’ll have another festival at Christmastime, but if not, we might just have to wait for next year.”
The borough’s annual Old Fashioned Christmas Festival has not been canceled yet, and borough officials are hopeful they won’t have to cancel it.
Williams said the annual 5K Bunny Run, which had been rescheduled from April to be included in Oktoberfest, will now be a virtual event on Sept. 19.
“It is a bummer,” Williams said about Oktoberfest. “Canonsburg people are resilient, and there’s always next year.”