The 2021 Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival has been canceled, Riverside County officials announced Friday afternoon.

The annual event, which was slated to be held in February, would have been the 75th celebration. County officials said they will look for other ways to celebrate the fair’s anniversary in 2021, possibly through a virtual celebration, and hope to resume the event in 2022.

Events at the fairgrounds have been canceled since the coronavirus pandemic hit California in mid-March. County public health officials plan to keep the 125-bed Federal Medical Station at the fairgrounds until the end of this year. The fairgrounds are also serving as one of the county’s COVID-19 testing locations.

“The Riverside County Fairgrounds are known not only as the home of our beloved Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival, but as a focal point and safe haven for the community when it comes to accessing health care and, today, they are being utilized in another health care mission to help us overcome the coronavirus,” V. Manuel Perez, who chairs the county Board of Supervisors, said in a statement.

“It is rare that we cancel this fair, but we know the tradition is so strong and special for many families, including mine, that we can look forward to its return after we complete this mission,” he said.

“It was a difficult decision to cancel, but with the uncertainty of how long the fairgrounds will be used as a testing center and back up hospital, it was one that had to be made,” said Riverside County Fair Advisory Board Chair Lupe Ramos Amith. “We look forward to seeing everyone for our 75th anniversary.”

The fair first started in the 1940s as a celebration of the local date harvest. The event’s organizers decorate the Indio Fairgrounds in an Arabian theme to celebrate the origin of the fruit. The event also showcases the year’s designated Queen Scheherazade and her court, three local students who receive scholarships.

In recent years, the event has also included more traditional fair elements, including deep-fried foods, exotic animals and memorabilia collections.

Rebecca Plevin is a reporter for The Desert Sun. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @rebeccaplevin.

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