SEDALIA, Mo. — The Missouri State Fair has been canceled due to rising cases of the coronavirus, organizers announced on social media Friday. Instead, the event will "pivot" to a youth livestock show.
"When the original decision to move forward with the Fair was made, the information and numbers were different than they are now," the organization wrote on its Facebook page. "In collaboration with Governor Parson and the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services it was determined that the best course of action was to work to reduce the number of individuals on the fairgrounds."
Fair organizers said sponsors and vendors that normally support the fair had to limit or cancel their participation and that was another reason for the cancellation.
The youth livestock show is scheduled for Aug. 13-23 in Sedalia. The fair will be issuing refunds to people who had planned to participate.
Parson had previously said the state fair had only been canceled one other time in the last 100 years.
Several counties have already announced the cancellations of their fairs.
