HAMBURG, N.Y. — For the second year in a row, BurgerFest has been canceled.
The annual festival was originally scheduled to take place Saturday, July 17 in the Village of Hamburg; however, organizers agreed to cancel the event due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was made Monday during a Zoom meeting.
“Our BurgerFest Committee would have loved to proceed with the festival and considered postponing or scaling down the event,” said Eileen Hotho, BurgerFest co-chair for 2020-2021. “But, in the end, there are just too many moving parts for an event this large to try to project what may or may not be allowed in the middle of July, considering we would need permissions from the Village of Hamburg, the NYS DOT, the State Liquor Authority and the Erie County Health Department, not to mention the cooperation of the own service clubs on the district or possibly international levels for issues such as insurance.”
The one-day festival was started in 1985, celebrating the creation of the hamburger at the Erie County Fair, and is coordinated by the Rotary Club of Hamburg, the Rotary Club of Hamburg Sunrise, the Town of Hamburg Lions Club and the Kiwanis Club of Hamburg.
The decision was not made lightly, according to BurgerFest co-chair Michele Hanley. Hanley said in a press release that a joint fundraiser will be held in July to offset the financial losses for the four service clubs.
“We hope that everyone who has loved BurgerFest throughout the years will come to celebrate our return next year - July 16, 2022,” Hanley said.