This year’s Central Pennsylvania Festival of Arts, better known as Arts Fest, has been canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, the festival’s Board of Directors announced Friday morning.

This is now the first time in Arts Fest’s 54-year history the event won’t be held in July.

Despite the cancellation of in-person festivities, festival staff is working on virtually presenting artists and musicians in July. Updates on online festivities will be provided on the festival’s website in the coming weeks.

“We’re a resilient organization and community,” CPFA Board President Renata Engel said. “While this is a disappointment at the moment, the Arts Festival team is already turning its focus toward engaging artists, entertainers, and volunteers in new ways during this unprecedented time. We look forward to using our creativity and collaboration to design and deliver memorable and engaging experiences for our audience this year, while continuing to support the safety and health of our community.”

Arts Fest was just about the last event at Penn State or in State College left standing following the global coronavirus outbreak. Earlier this spring, all NCAA Championships and Big Ten sports, the 2020 Blue-White game, and on-campus events such as Movin’ On and were canceled as well.

There are currently 27,735 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Pennsylvania. Seventy-three confirmed positive cases reside in Centre County.

About the Author

Matt DiSanto

Matt proudly served as Onward State’s managing editor for two years until graduating from Penn State in May 2022. Now, he’s off in the real world doing real things. Send him an email (mattdisanto86@gmail.com) or follow him on Twitter (@mattdisanto_) to stay in touch.

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