GREENBRIER COUNTY, W.Va. — Nearly $20 million was how much a leading tourism official in Greenbrier County estimated the local economy would lose with the cancellation of the 2020 State Fair of West Virginia which was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Typically, the State Fair includes events covering ten days in Fairlea.
“People come here and they spend their money and it’s not just at the State Fair,” said Kara Dense, executive director of the Greenbrier County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“They come in, they’ll go shopping in Downtown Lewisburg or maybe they’ll visit Lost World Caverns. They get gas. They’ll stop at Walmart, so those people not bringing those outside dollars into the area for those ten days in August, it’ll definitely make a difference.”
What was to be the 96th State Fair was originally scheduled to open on Aug. 13.
After initially voting to move forward with a modified event operating under state guidelines to limit coronavirus spread, the Fair Board decided this week to cancel the event fully in consultation with local and state health officials.
One factor in the decision was a recent virus outbreak connected to Graystone Baptist Church in Lewisburg where more than 30 positive COVID-19 cases had been confirmed as of earlier this week.
Prior to that, Greenbrier County went weeks without any known positives.
“The situation has now changed and the Board felt it was important to act quickly,” State Fair officials said.
“It is a hard decision, but it is the right decision.”
The last time the State Fair was canceled was between 1942 and 1945 for World War II.
The pandemic’s economic effects in Greenbrier County, though, go beyond the State Fair.
“So much of all business in Greenbrier County is tourism-related — everything from The Greenbrier to Downtown Lewisburg,” Dense said.
“We really depend on visitors to come here and spend their money to keep a lot of small businesses alive.”
In recent months, the Greenbrier County Convention and Visitors Bureau had been pushing Greenbrier County as a travel destination for other West Virginians.
“It’s different in the way we’re going about things, but you can still have those great experiences (while taking virus prevention steps),” Dense said.
Some of those efforts to attract state residents were on hold, as of Friday, because of the church outbreak with plans to pick back up again as soon as possible.
“As somebody very close to me says, ‘To me it’s been like I’ve been coaching a football game where they continually are moving the goalposts,'” Dense said.
“Every day, something else will pop up and we have to kind of move and be very flexible.”
She was encouraging West Virginians to support their local businesses whenever possible.
The scheduled dates for the 2021 State Fair of West Virginia were Aug. 12 – Aug. 21.