Difficult decision: White Covered Bridge Association unanimously votes to cancel festival due to COVID-19
COVID-19 has forced another traditional event in Greene County to be canceled this year, as the White Covered Bridge Association announced its annual Bridge Festival will not be happening in 2020.
The covered bridge festivals are traditional fall staples for area residents that celebrate the deep rural history of the landmarks in Carmichaels and Garards Fort with a full slate of food and crafts vendors, reenactments and live entertainment.
The popular two-day festivals at the White Covered Bridge and the Carmichaels Covered Bridge near Greene Academy of Art were to be held Sept. 19 and 20. Earlier this summer, the committee for the Carmichaels Covered Bridge Festival announced the 2020 event was canceled, and earlier this month, the White Covered Bridge Association board voted to cancel.
The two Greene bridges were slated to join eight others in Washington County as part of the Washington and Greene Counties’ Covered Bridge Festival. However, last month Jeff Kotula, president of Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency, announced the Covered Bridge Festival was being canceled, and said that although the festival attracts over 20,000 visitors a year, the 2020 event could not be held because the current guidelines established by the Pennsylvania Department of Health limits events to 250 people.
Following Kotula’s announcement, JoAnne Marshall, director of the Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency, said independent organizations or agencies facilitate each location of the festival, and the White Covered Bridge Festival’s Association members informed her in June that they wanted to take more time to decide the fate of this year’s event.