BUFFALO, N.Y. — Given New York State's current guidelines prohibiting large gatherings, several annual events scheduled for 2021 have already fallen by the wayside.
And because no one has a crystal ball to predict the future of the COVID-19 pandemic, many other events, even if they’re not scheduled to take place until several months from now, can’t be certain if they are a “go” or a “no.”
Much to consider
Any large public event requires that certain commitments be locked down months in advance, including but not limited to securing sponsors, vendors, volunteers, and permits.
“Even though we've done it for years we still have drop dead dates,” said Greg Weber, director of the Buffalo Marathon.
“We have to let companies know, for example, that we need 200 Porta Potties and we have to commit to it. We have to order shirts and medals, and those things take time to be produced and get here,” he said, explaining just some of what the producers of large events have to line up well ahead of time.
Organizers of 2021 events also must gauge, perhaps months in advance, if they think enough people would be comfortable to attend even if they're allowed to be held.
Buffalo Marathon
Weber says more definitive plans for the Buffalo Marathon, to which there are already 5,300 holdover registrants from the cancelled 2020 event, will be coming soon.
"We have a plan which we have been working on. We’ve been in touch with Erie County, and we’re happy to announce that we are going to hold a Facebook Live on Saturday to share it with everybody at the same time," Weber said.
Here is the status of some other popular annual events.
Labatt Blue Buffalo Pond Hockey Tournament
The tournament, scheduled to be held at Buffalo RiverWorks in February, has been postponed due to current New York State guidelines, according to organizers who say they hope to stage the tournament in the spring, if the guidelines change and the weather cooperates.
Buffalo Auto Show
The 2021 Buffalo Auto Show will not take place in its customary February time frame. However, the Niagara Frontier Automobile Dealers Association says it’s working on a potentially larger and more experiential event in late spring, although any new dates or details have yet to be announced.
Buffalo St. Patrick’s Day Parade
The 2020 parade was one of the first casualties of the pandemic when it was cancelled just two days before it was scheduled to step off last March.
Asked if organizers were planning to go ahead this year, or if they had secured a permit, a City Hall spokesperson texted: “As of right now, social gatherings of that size are not permitted in New York State.”
Dyngus Day
The traditional celebration of Polish heritage is held annually the day following Easter, which this year would be on April 5.
“I’d love to be able to say it’s a go, but we’re at the mercy of the state,” Dyngus Day organizer Eddy Dobosiewicz said. “We are ready to go and have everything in place to go once we get the green light because people are clamoring for it, but it’s completely out of our control.”
According to Dobosiewicz, organizers may be ready to announce some sort of alternative celebration by late February if the state’s current ban on large gatherings isn’t lifted by then.
Buffalo Bisons baseball
When New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that a limited number of fans would be allowed to attend Buffalo Bills playoff games (provided they first passed a COVID-19 test, wore masks, and kept their distance from each other inside the stadium), he also remarked that the system put in place could provide a model of how spectators might eventually return to other venues.
However, according to Buffalo Bisons President of Operations Mike Buczkowski, there have been no discussions on whether a similar approach could serve to put fans back in the seats at Sahlen Field.
He also reminded us that formal Professional Development Licenses between Major League Baseball and its Minor League affiliates, under a newly revamped system, have yet to be signed, although he expects that to occur in February.
Beyond that, there are still questions regarding training camps. Early this week, several state officials in Arizona, where 15 teams hold training camps, asked Major League Baseball to delay the start of its camps due to COVID-19 concerns, putting the scheduled start of the season in jeopardy.
According to Buczkowski, all those issues would have to first be resolved before they would know when the Bisons might play and under what circumstances, and certainly before questions regarding attendance can be addressed.
Buffalo Pride Week
Even though it is not set to take place until June, the organizers of Buffalo Pride Week have already determined that it will be a virtual celebration only. This means that popular in-person events, such as the Pride Parade, and the Pride Festival at Canalside, will not take place.
Organizers say they made the “difficult decision” due to the ongoing challenges surrounding the pandemic and the uncertainty over what the next several months will bring.