Organizers of DelFest have announced that this year’s gathering will not take place as planned and has instead been rescheduled to Memorial Day weekend 2022. The event will now take place May 26th–29th, 2022 at its home of Allegany County Fairgrounds in Cumberland, MD.
In a lengthy statement issued to fans and ticket-holders, Rob and Ronnie McCoury—on behalf of the McCoury family and DelFest—opened by saying “This is a tough letter to write.” The festival had already been postponed twice, but the situation regarding COVID in Maryland was necessary to address. While Maryland itself is doing “pretty well” against COVID, Western Maryland is inundated with new cases due to the delta variant. In fact, Allegany county is second in the state in infections.
Beyond the rising cases, and also because of them, the region is experiencing a labor shortage. DelFest organizers were informed last week that the event services company they have used for nine years would not be able to field a team this year. Additionally, the festival was forced to cut ties with a shuttle company whose unvaccinated drivers “were not willing to even wear a mask or be tested.”
Vendors had to pull out due to hospitalizations or labor shortages of their own. The ripple of rising COVID cases has spread throughout the live events and hospitality industries to the point where it made DelFest an impossibility.
“With a heavy heart, we must accept the fact that COVID has won another round,” Rob and Ronnie wrote. “We can not bring out families, or yours, into an event that doesn’t meet our safety standards.”
A refund request period will is open from today, September 9th, through September 20th. All non-refunded 2021 tickets will automatically roll over to 2022, requiring no action from the ticket-holder.
Read the full statement from the McCoury family on the postponement of DelFest to 2022.