UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s 2020 Ag Progress Days exposition has been canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, organizers said.
The event was scheduled for Aug. 11-13. Organizers within the College of Agricultural science said the decision was made out of an abundance of caution to protect the health and safety of all involved.
It’s also consistent with decisions made by other major Centre County events, like the Grange Fair, Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts and Central PA 4th Fest.
Jesse Darlington, Ag Progress Days manager said the decision complies with Gov. Tom Wolf’s order prohibiting gatherings of more than 250 people. The event garners up to 50,000 people from all over the state and out of state during its three-day run.
“With the uncertainty of what the situation will look like in August, we don’t want to encourage the development of a coronavirus ‘hot spot’ that could lead to further restrictions on businesses and schools here and elsewhere,” Darlington said in a statement.
The decision was made now to help commercial exhibitors avoid or minimize expenses incurred in planning to attend the event, Darlington said. He said commercial exhibitors that already have paid registration fees will have the option of a full refund or to have their fees applied to their attendance at next year’s show, which is scheduled for Aug. 10-12, 2021.
Event organizers are exploring ways to connect Ag Progress Day vendors and attendees virtually through the event’s website, http://apd.psu.edu.
Faculty and staff in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Penn State Extension are also looking at providing multimedia content on the website to highlight some of the research, extension programs and demonstrations that would have been featured at the event.
