MESA COUNTY, Colo. – The annual Palisade Peach Festival has been canceled this year over COVID-19 concerns, the Palisade Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday.
The popular event on the Western Slope typically brings in close to 15,000 people each August, but the chamber said that coronavirus-related concerns forced the cancellation of this year’s festival – not the late freeze that happened this spring.
The chamber says it is already planning for next year’s event and “will be ready to greet you in 2021.” The 52nd annual event had been scheduled for Aug. 13-15.
The chamber thanked the Mesa County Public Health Department for its work to open the Mesa County economy as much as possible, along with the town of Palisade and the festivals sponsors.
“We at the chamber, feel the need to do all we can on our part to be vigilant in the interest of the health of our valley,” the chamber said in a release.
Chamber Executive Director Andrew Weber said peaches are still available at stands and farmers markets this year.
“There are Palisade peaches locally and let us celebrate by having a peach,” he said.