LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — COVID-19 has led to the cancellation of another major community event.
The Home Wine and Beer Makers’ Festival, also known as the WineFest, a major fundraiser for the Lake County Symphony that was planned for Sept. 18 in Library Park, has been canceled.
The event also was canceled last year because of the pandemic.
WineFest organizers said it’s all about the COVID-19 threat and concerns about public safety due to the poor record of vaccinations and mask compliance in Lake County, which has been a hot spots in California.
Organizers said they made this difficult choice to protect fellow residents in Lake County, particularly the unvaccinated, which includes children under age 12.
They cited the rise of COVID-19 cases due to the more contagious Delta variant, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that all people in high-risk areas like Lake County should continue to wear masks indoors in public places, regardless of vaccination status.
“After looking thoroughly at the statistics, we felt that even at an outdoor event like ours, the virus could be spread, since people who chose to wear a mask would have to take it off to do wine and beer tasting. I am not happy about it,” Carl Fredrickson, president of the Symphony Wine Club, explained. “A lot of hard work went into the organization of our WineFest. There was anger, disappointment and even some tears after most Wine Club members voted to cancel our WineFest for a second year.”
Fredrickson added, “Speaking only for myself, I just wish that everyone would get vaccinated and wear a mask to protect others. This pandemic could be over by now if more people had done that. Now we may be looking at requiring ‘vaccine passports’ everywhere so we can get back to normal life.”