The 2020 Kansas State Fair has been cancelled. The fair board Monday morning voted to cancel the event due to to COVID-19 concerns.

Fair authorities had recommended that Kansas join other regional states in skipping similar events this year.

While the traditional Fair won’t happen, staff is working to host both open class and youth livestock shows over three weekends starting Labor Day weekend. This includes the state’s premier Grand Drive youth show, which will take place Sept. 11-13. The board also will evaluate other opportunities for the fall. More information on livestock events is available at https://bit.ly/2020KSFLivestock.

The state fair contributes an estimated $74.6 million to the Kansas economy annually, according to a 2018 report by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. The economic impact in the Fair’s 60-mile radius is more than $40 million.

This will be the first time in over 100 years there has not been a Kansas State Fair.

The first official Kansas State Fair was held in Hutchinson in 1913. For 107 uninterrupted years, the Fair has been the state’s largest gathering of Kansans. Not even the Spanish flu or World Wars could halt the annual end-of-summer rite.

This year’s Kansas State Fair had been scheduled Sept. 11-20.