An annual fall festival in Springfield will not go on as planned because of a surge in COVID-19 cases in southwest Missouri due to the delta variant.
The Birthplace of Route 66 festival had been set for August 13th and 14th. It was not held last year because of the pandemic.
Springfield city manager, Jason Gage, said the festival’s steering committee made the right decision to cancel it again this year.
“The festival is just too large and draws too many people from around the world, and we just don’t really feel like, and the group didn’t really feel like they could take a chance of it overwhelming our hospitals or contributing the spread of the horrible variant,” he said.
According to Gage, the committee decided unanimously to instead host socially distanced, safe vaccination opportunities in the space that weekend in the hopes that the festival can be held next year.
