Bloomsburg Fair vs Coronavirus

March 23, 2021

By Christian Gannone

BLOOMSBURG – The Bloomsburg Fair has been a tradition for 165 years, but their consecutive streak has been snapped last year in 2020 when COVID-19 forced the Bloomsburg Fair Association to cancel the fair. The decision was made in concern of public health and safety.

For years, the fair has delivered amusement to the whole state of Pennsylvania and even others who commute from out of state to attend the fair. The fair resides in downtown Bloomsburg which has grown to submerge the fair with the community.

Residents of the town of Bloomsburg and students at Bloomsburg University look forward to the fair each year and take pride in its success. The cancelation of the fair has left the community with emptiness as the fall rolled around this past year.

The Bloomsburg Fair has grown to become one of the biggest amusement attractions in the state of Pennsylvania. In this video from WNEP reporter Julie Sidoni speaks on what the fair usually consists of and what will be missed. Julie Sidoni includes,

“Each year the Bloomsburg fair is responsible for 1,100 vendors, thousands of exhibitors, artists, sponsors and the families who comes to the fair, Sidoni reporter. Instead of hosting the fair this year, the association plans to use the time to make improvements, train staff and look toward the future, said Sidoni”

It has been a disappointment for residents and Columbia county and students at Bloomsburg University.

Over the years, the fair has become an attachment to the university and students look forward to the fun each year.

Bloomsburg University Senior, Michael Porreca shared his thoughts on the situation.

“I’ve gone to the last three fair outing always enjoyed my time there, said Michael. I think it is important for students to connect with the local community, claimed the Senior. The fair has also been a nice escape for students to take a break from school and relieve that stress in the beginning of the semester, but we all missed that this past year,” Michael said.

For more from students, check out this video of a firsthand experience of a student traveling through the fair in their last outing in 2019.

According to a WNEP article, Bloomsburg local Judy Stickland says she has attended the fair her whole life.

“Since I was about 2 years old. Now I am 75, so a long time,” Judy Strickland said.

Listen to the full video of interviews with Bloomsburg locals to hear how more people of the community feel about the cancellation and their connection to the fair.

Not only was the community affected by the fair’s absence in their town this past year, the Bloomsburg fair Association was also affected by the community’s absence at their fair.

According to an article from Eyewitness News, reporter Logan Westrope met with the Bloomsburg Fair President Randy Karschner to discuss how the fair has been affected financially with a year off. Randy Karschner stated,

“We are working with the 2019 fair revenue, which had a gross income between $700,000 to $800,000, said President Karschner. Most of that money would have been used to prepare for the 2020 fair in September, Karschner said. But, with it being canceled, we were able to stretch out that money.”

The Bloomsburg Fair is among some of the biggest fairs in the state of Pennsylvania. Their 2019 revenue from admissions compares to a few other popular fairs, who also canceled their fairs in 2020.

The Bloomsburg Fair, The York Fair, The Big Butler Fair, and The Crawford County Fair all charge $8 for general admission.

• This article provides the official statement on the cancellation 2020 Bloomsburg Fair canceled because of COVID-19 | wnep.com and includes some statistics.

• This article Folks missing the Bloomsburg Fair | wnep.com includes interviews of multiple locals about how the tradition ending for a year has affected people and vendors.

• Check out this video Bloomsburg Fair 2019 preview – Bing video for an amazing understanding of what the fair looks like in full swing. A firsthand view of the fair from a student’s perspective.

• Watch this video Bloomsburg Fair Working Financially without 2020 Fair – Bing video to hear more on how the fair association was affected financially in the past year’s cancellation.

• This webpage Cause IQ | Web-based tools and information on the nonprofit sector is a useful tool to gain statistical numbers about counties and communities with in certain regions.