Lowville Cream Cheese Festival Curdled by Coronavirus

One of the most unique festivals in all of New York is off the calendar for 2020. And yes, it's thanks to the Coronavirus. Lowville officials are nixing the annual Cream Cheese Festival scheduled for September, but it was more than just health concerns causing the cancellation.

Festival Chairman Jeremiah Papineau called the decision, "A difficult one." In addition to concerns over the safety and health of everyone involved, the additional costs of testing visitors, vendors, and volunteers as required by state and CDC guidelines was astronomical.

Papineau also noted the cancellation of other area events in making the decision.

When we learned of the Adirondack Balloon Festival canceling last week, it was
the first event we had heard about that late in the year that was canceled. And
when we learned of the Ogdensburg Seaway Festival canceling, we found a big decision
that played into that was a state requirement for vendors and volunteers to be COVID tested
at an astronomical cost to that festival’s committee.

This would have been the 16th year of the Cream Cheese Festival celebrating the birthplace of Philadelphia Cream Cheese.  The annual event attracts between 10 - 15,000 people each year to the one-day festival. You can read the official press release at the Cream Cheese Festival's website.