The Penn's Colony Festival, which was planned for later in September at the familiar property on Saxonburg Boulevard in Clinton Township, has been canceled for this year.

Local festival enthusiasts will just have to imagine what life was like at harvest time in the 18th century due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ray and Beth Rush, who operate the Penn's Colony Festival, said they have decided to cancel the 2020 event, which was scheduled for Sept. 19, 20, 26 and 27 at the familiar property on Saxonburg Boulevard in Clinton Township.

It would have been the festival's 37th year.

“No matter how much we would have implemented all the safety measures, we just couldn't guarantee for ourselves that someone couldn't contract the virus,” Beth Rush said.

The festival re-creates an early American village with 185 artists and craftsmen, musicians, historic re-enactors and entertainers set in the midst of the colonial harvest festival.

French and Native American historical displays and historians surround the village each year as well.

The festival attracts 8,000 to 10,000 patrons and 185 vendors each year, Beth Rush said.

She said because the vendors and their customers are excited to meet at the Colony each year, she pictured close contact and long conversations between people at the festival.

“We just thought about all the different things that happen once people get inside the gates, so we can see why there is a statewide mandate to limit crowds,” Beth Rush said.

She said the vendors also understand the need to cancel the popular festival.

“Although everyone was really hoping that we could still continue, every single exhibitor said to us that they thought we made the best decision,” she said.

She said many vendors have online shops, and she and Ray are helping customers connect with them.

“If you're just going to a stadium, you could control crowds better,” Beth Rush said, “but there are too many things going on to monitor everyone's behavior to make sure everyone is staying safe.”

In addition to vendors and food purveyors, canceling the festival affects local parents who work at the festival to pay for their teenagers' high school band uniforms and trips.

The Rushes said 2020 marks the first time the festival has been canceled, even though it has been held in years past during unbelievably bad weather.

“When I think of the hurricanes we have pushed through ... ” Beth Rush said. “It is with a heavy heart that we cancel, but we do feel like we made the best decision.”

The 2021 Penn's Colony Festival has been scheduled for Sept. 18, 19, 25 and 26.