Whatcom’s Northwest Washington Fair is latest summertime victim of coronavirus pandemic
For the first time in 75 years, the Northwest Washington Fair in Lynden will not be held this August.
No carnival rides. No entertainers in the grandstand. No Demolition Derby. No Lynden PRCA Rodeo. No animal or craft exhibits. No 4-H and FFA competitions. No fair food. And no Moo-wiches!
All of it was officially called off Thursday, April 30, due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a release from the Fair Board.
The board voted unanimously to honor the recommendation of the Whatcom County Health Department and not hold the fair this summer, the release stated, adding that you can mark your 2021 calendar for Aug. 16-21.
“The Fair is a chance for our community to come together and celebrate our individual and collective achievements,” Board President Nate Kleindel said in the release. “We are saddened that the current circumstances have left us no alternative.”
It will mark the first summer without the Northwest Washington Fair since 1945 — the fair was not held from 1942 to 1945 due to World War II. The fair also wasn’t held in 1931 through 1933, according to the release.
The Fair’s history timeline says an exhibition of 4-H Club wares and calves was held in late August in 1931, while the Grandstand burned down Sept. 1, 1932, but Assistant Manager Chris Pickering told The Bellingham Herald he wasn’t sure of the exact reason there were no fairs held in the early 30s.
Other than those hiatuses, a fair has been a part of life in Whatcom County since 1909, when the timeline said a group of Lynden merchants held an Oct. 16 street fair on Front Street in Lynden. It was so successful it was planned again for 1910 and was called the Nooksack Valley Produce Fair. A year later, 9,400 people attended the first fair.
Now, nearly a quarter-million people annually visit the fairgrounds over the course of the six-day event.
The fair has not done an economic impact study in more than a decade, Pickering told The Herald, so it is not known how much Thursday’s announcement will cost the region, but he said the impact will be big.
“Part of the reason we wanted to announce it so soon, is because we do have so many partners,” Pickering said. “They invest a lot of money to help us make the fair so special, and we wanted to let them know as soon as we could so they don’t invest any more money in preparing for the fair this year.”
The fair, itself, and the fairgrounds will survive and plan to be back in 2021, Pickering said.
“It’s going to be a hit for us, just like this has been for a lot of businesses,” Pickering told The Herald. “The board and management have done a good job of setting aside reserves for operations and facilities. We will be back next year, and we will continue to be the fair.”
Fair staff also hopes to “provide unique opportunities to make memories this summer,” the release stated.
Pickering did not offer any hint of what those opportunities would be at this time, as he said all energies before Thursday were involved in putting on a fair.
“We’re still committed to achieving our mission, including agricultural education, competition and bringing people together,” Manager Jim Baron said in the release. “What that looks like is yet to be determined, but with the board’s informed vote we are now able to devote staff resources to developing new events and activities to be held at the fairgrounds once it is deemed safe to do so.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Whatcom County Health Department Director Erika Lautenbach on April 14 recommended that all summertime community events in the county be canceled this year.
“I recognize that this recommendation creates considerable disappointment,” Lautenbach said in a release about the recommendation. “However, the long-term health of our community and our economy could be further damaged if we move too quickly to resume the activities that we know will put us at risk.”
In aligning with Lautenbach’s recommendation, Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood announced March 24 that all city-sponsored events in Bellingham through the end of August have been canceled by executive order.
In addition to the fair, major county events that have already announced cancellations for 2020 include:
▪ Ski to Sea.
▪ Bellingham Bells’ 2020 season.
▪ Haggen Family Fourth of July Celebration in Bellingham.
▪ Blaine Old Fashioned 4th Celebration.
▪ Downtown Sounds.
▪ Chuckanut Foot Race.
▪ Tour de Whatcom.
▪ Bellingham Festival of Music.
▪ Ferndale’s Old Settler’s Weekend.
▪ Chuckanut Classic.
▪ Mount Baker Hill Climb.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
