2021 Antelope Valley Fair & Alfalfa Festival canceled

Given the latest COVID-19 Mega Event restrictions and mandates issued by Los Angeles County on September 15, the 2021 Antelope Valley (AV) Fair scheduled to start October 1 is officially canceled. Due to the logistics and complexities of the new mandates including requiring proof of vaccinations or proof of negative COVID-19 testing and other protocol requirements have increased logistical burdens beyond reason. Coupled with the continued uncertainty of additional event regulations and the fiduciary risk to future events, cancellation is the only option.

According to Dan Jacobs, Antelope Valley Fair & Event Center CEO, “The health and well-being of our community has and always will be our top priority. We’ve been carefully preparing this year’s event with stringent safety protocols at the forefront of all of our planning. However, these recent Los Angeles County mandates are the tipping point in terms of resources, forecasting reduced attendance, and other burdens that impact our ability to move forward. Saying we’re disappointed is an understatement. We sincerely appreciate how our fair fans, sponsors, concessionaires, vendors, exhibitors and volunteers have supported us through these last two very tumultuous years.”

Traditionally the Antelope Valley Fair & Alfalfa Festival is a ten-day event that takes place in August, hosts an average of twenty thousand visitors per day, including general admission and arena event attendees. The award winning AV Fair brings in hundreds of vendors, concessionaires, exhibitors and local non-profit agencies – all key partners to the traditional event. In an effort to accommodate the ongoing COVID-19 health and safety protocols rules and mandates, this year’s event was moved to October, reduced from a ten-day to an eight-day event, arena concert series canceled, reduced number of vendors, exhibitors, concessionaires and other scaled down considerations.

AV Fair & Event Board President, Drew Mercy commented, “While our staff and volunteers have made countless changes and efforts to hold this event safely, the continued obstacles Los Angeles County Health Department imposes on safe, outdoor events like ours forces us to make this very difficult decision. Despite our community’s incredible efforts in coming together on every front; with support of this year’s AV Fair and the numerous changes made, doing their part to keep infection rates down in the Antelope Valley, and working together to safely gather at events – this is today’s outcome. These new mandates prohibit us from providing our Fair attendees the experiences they have come to expect, enjoy and deserve. We’re working closely with our vendors, concessionaires and others to help minimize the impact this decision has to their business.”

Ticket purchases will be automatically refunded. Visit http://www.avfair.com for additional details.