Cobourg’s Waterfront Festival and Rotary Ribfest Cancelled due to COVID-19

In light of the developing situation around COVID-19 and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the community it has been decided that this year’s Cobourg Waterfront Festival scheduled for July 1-4 and Rotary Ribfest and Music Festival scheduled for August 14-16 in Victoria Park will be cancelled. 

 Community organizers of Cobourg’s Waterfront Festival include the Lions Club of Cobourg, the Rotary Club of Cobourg and the Town of Cobourg who unanimously agreed to the cancellation of one of Ontario’s leading outdoor shows and third largest Canada Day celebration in the country. The Rotary Ribfest and Music Festival cancellation was also entirely supported by the Rotary Club of Cobourg. 

“Our top priority is the health and well-being of our many citizens, essential workers, community partners and festival attendees. We have been closely monitoring the situation with COVID-19, and after much consideration, our community partners have made the responsible decision to cancel not only Cobourg’s Waterfront Festival but the Cobourg Ribfest Festival as well,” said Mayor John Henderson, Town of Cobourg. “I applaud our community partners for making the right decision as we continue to abide by provincial and federal guidelines.”

 Cancellation of the Cobourg Waterfront Festival and the Cobourg Rotary Ribfest and Music Festival is one way in which community partners are prioritizing the safety of their audiences, artists, crews, staff, and volunteers, while supporting the municipality and those working on the front lines to help flatten the curve. These measures also ensure that both high traffic festivals remain strong and healthy as an event, returning better than ever to the community in the summer of 2021.

 “The shock of COVID-19 has been universal and we certainly were not expecting to be the only community not impacted,” said Don Owen, President of the Rotary Club of Cobourg. “The correct course of action was to immediately ensure the safety of our community and visitors who come for these two huge events. With luck and grace, we will be in a position to resume these events soon again once the pandemic is behind us.”