GARDEN GROVE (CNS) - The Garden Grove Strawberry Festival has been postponed for a second straight year due to COVID-19 concerns, and now is rescheduled for Memorial Day weekend of next year, organizers said.
“In the interest of public safety, due to the ongoing worldwide pandemic ... it is with great regret that the board of the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival Association has made a decision to postpone this year's 2021 Garden Grove Strawberry Festival,'' Patrick Catlin, the association's president, said in a statement.
The 2021 festival, which would have been the 62nd, had been slated to take place on Memorial Day weekend of 2021. The 2020 festival was also postponed because of the pandemic.
“Looking ahead with optimism, once the vaccine for the coronavirus has been widely distributed to the general public and it's safe to return to large, in-person gatherings, the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival Association plans to move forward with the festival, slated for Memorial Day Weekend, May 27-30, 2022,'' Catlin said.
Catlin added that the association this spring will continue to donate $2,000 to Miss Garden Grove, and make eight $1,000 scholarships available to deserving seniors attending the eight high schools in the Garden Grove Unified School District.
But “the GGSFA will be unable to award funding, as we have in the past, to deserving non-profit organizations, applying for capital improvements who serve residents of Garden Grove, until our festival is up and running again at full capacity,'' he said.
Organizers hope to offer some online engagement in May via their website at https://strawberryfestival.org/, as well as on social media pages.
The Garden Grove Strawberry Festival has raised more than $7 million for various charities since its inception in 1958.
Additionally, the Sister City Association of Garden Grove announced its 7th Annual Strawberry Stomp 5K, originally scheduled for May 29, 2021, will be postponed until May 28, 2022. The Sister City Association of Garden Grove is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the knowledge and understanding between the people of Garden Grove and Anyang, South Korea.
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