CHESAPEAKE — The annual Chesapeake October fest has been canceled for this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former Mayor Dick Gilpin, who is with Chesapeake Area Citizens Coalition, which organizes the event, usually set for the first weekend in October, said the decision was made on Thursday.

Gilpin said the group held out, hoping the situation would be better, but with restrictions on events still in place and schools in Chesapeake on remote learning through at least mid-October due to the pandemic, they realized the need to cancel.

Gilpin said the requirements to host such an event safely were too difficult to meet.

In addition to Octoberfest, CACC also hosts the village’s annual tree lighting ceremony each Christmas season.

Octoberfest is the latest major event in the region to be called off this year. This year also saw the cancellation of the Lawrence County Fair, the West Virginia Pumpkin Festival and the Ceredo-Kenova Autumnfest, while the annual Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade was scaled down and livestreamed without in-person spectators.