Grand Rapids' Festival of the Arts, which was set to celebrate its 50th year this year, has announced the cancellation of this year's event. It was set to take place June 5-7, 2020.

Organizers of the event consulted county, state and federal health officials before making the call. Ultimately, Festival of the Arts leadership decided to cancel the event.

David Abbot, executive director for Festival of the Arts, said in a statement, "Canceling Festival for the first time in fifty years was a very difficult decision, but we nee to keep the community's best interest in mind. Festival leadership and our amazing team of volunteers remains committed to Art for All and looks forward to bringing the event back strong in 2021.

Festival of the Arts brings hundreds of thousands of people to downtown Grand Rapids for the weekend-long event. It is staffed by over 1,500 volunteers.

Festival of the Arts is a 501(c)(3) organization, meaning that it is supported by local companies, foundations, organizations, and individual donors. If you're interested in donating to Festival of the Arts to ensure that the event can take place in future years, you can do so online.

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