Apple Festival canned due to coronavirus

Food Network star Jason Smith (left) was one of the visitors to the Kentucky Apple Festival of Johnson County in 2019, posing for a picture with Johnson County Senior Citizens Center director Katrinka Stewart.

By TONY FYFFE
BSN Editor

PAINTSVILLE — Another fall festival in the Big Sandy region has been shuddered due to the coronavirus.
Officials with the Kentucky Apple Festival of Johnson County announced Friday that the 58th annual event in Paintsville is cancelled. “The safety and well-being of our great community is our top priority,” officials posted on the event’s Facebook page. “Therefore, after much consideration, and due to the possible spread of Covid-19, the 2020 Kentucky Apple Festival has been cancelled. We understand that many of you are looking forward to the event and this is frustrating. However, we must consider the directives of the CDC and State government.” Festival organizers will “do everything we can to make the 2021 festival better than ever,” the post said. Held the first weekend in October, the Apple Festival began as a one-day event in 1962 and blossomed into one of the biggest festivals in Kentucky, attracting visitors from all 50 states and several foreign countries. The festival’s cancellation follows an announcement in May that the Lawrence County Septemberfest in Louisa would not be held this year, also because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March, organizers of Hillbilly Days in Pikeville decided to cancel the annual April event as reports of the coronavirus began to rise in Kentucky.