This year’s Crawfish Fest has been postponed to 2022.
With the news on COVID’s resurgence getting worse daily, Crawfish Fest organizer Michael Arnone has postponed the Aug. 27-29 event at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta to June 3-5, 2022.
The fest, originally scheduled for May 2020, has already been postponed three times: first to August 2020, then to May 2021, and then to August of this year. Artists who had been scheduled to perform included Tab Benoit, Samantha Fish, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Bonerama, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Amanda Shaw and Ally Venable.
Arnone, who lives in Louisiana but has been producing the Crawfish Fest annually in New Jersey since 1989, posted on Facebook, tonight, explaining his reasoning:
NJ has a high vaccination rate, but that does not help us as we draw from all over the country. We have over 100 band members coming in from Louisiana where our vaccination rate is hovering around 35%.
The CDC stated people with a weakend immunity should wear a mask. Our dance hall is indoors and our pavillion stage is covered, semi-indoors with people dancing and touching.
The CDC stated vaccinated people who are infected by Delta may carry a large amount of the virus and transmit it to others. We know there may be unvaccinated folks there. …
The CDC advises distancing outside. I just don’t see that happening with our 3 day festival with people being so close. A paint line is not going to protect people. On a hot day in August, sweaty masks most likely will be coming off.
It will be near impossible to keep people masked and at a safe distance.
I did not come to this decision lightly. This is my livelyhood. My number one rule has always been “no one gets hurt.”
For more information and updates, visit crawfishfest.com.
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