September 10th, 2021 by WCBC Radio

DelFest organizers have canceled this year’s festival which was scheduled to take place at Allegany County Fairgrounds September 23 – 26. The next DelFest will now take place next year over Memorial Day Weekend, May 26 -29, 2022. The decision was due to a local labor shortage caused by a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant that has left the festival’s event services company unable to field a team for DelFest. A letter released on the DelFest Facebook page made note of the high COVID infection rates and low vaccination rates in Allegany County as a contributing factor in the decision to cancel.  Additionally, organizers lost the services of a local shuttle company and vendors. Stan Strickland, manager for Del McCoury.

The news broke shortly before the regular public meeting of the Allegany County Commissioners Thursday afternoon. Commissioner David Caporale said he was caught off guard by the announcement.

DelFest representatives will join WCBC’s “Dave Norman Show” this morning just before 9 to discuss the decision and where the festival goes from here.