The Maine Lobster Festival’s board of directors has been closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic in hopes that it would be able to safely offer its event to visitors from all over the world, according to an April 28 statement. For safety’s sake, however, the board decided to cancel the Summer 2020 Lobster Festival.   “Our president and executive board have met with state and local officials, our board has been monitoring CDC, federal and state guidelines, and we feel that the safest strategy for everyone is to cancel the 2020 festival,” according to the release. “We will miss seeing our tens of thousands of guests, our thousand plus volunteers, our artists, vendors and business partners, and all of our local neighbors.”    The annual festival, a nonprofit organization, intends on supporting its community in a variety of ways despite the lack of a 2020 festival.    “Despite the lack of a 2020 event, we plan on continuing our college scholarship program to help support local students in their pursuit of higher education,” the release said. “Our hope is to adapt some of our other work to highlight our local community and the Maine Lobster Industry over the course of the year.”    Ultimately, the board looks forward to welcome festival goers in 2021.   

“We have not made this decision lightly and are deeply disappointed,” the statement read. “Yet we know it is the right decision to keep everyone safe and healthy. We are confident that we will be able to greet you all safely at our event August 4-8, 2021.”