It is official... there will be no plucking, pie eating or parades this year as the Kindersley Chamber of Commerce has announced they will not be moving forward with Goose Festival 2020.

Although the Chamber was only going to be responsible for the parade portion of the annual Kindersley event, Kevin Martin, executive director of the Kindersley Chamber of Commerce, said he did not get one positive, or nod of support, from business owners regarding the topic.

“Not one business said they were in favour of it – it’s not worth the risk. They said they don’t want to put their employees or customers at risk, there are too many unknowns and so, although unfortunate, we are going to forego the traditional Goose Fest this year”.

Numerous other events were wiped out by COVID-19, including Macklin’s World Bunnock Championship, Eatonia’s Centennial Celebration and Rosetown’s Harvest Festival and Martin said the Chamber was going to hold on until the last minute to see if it would be plausible and most importantly safe.

Although the annual event will be missed, as they all have been and will be, Rick Miller, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said, “It’s not fun decision, we wish it could have moved forward but who knows, maybe it’s just going to come back bigger and better next year”.

As the public health guidelines still firmly in place, many are still planning only on a weekly or monthly basis, something that will likely continue into 2021 while we adjust to living through a pandemic.

With almost no other events on the docket, it would appear that Goose Festival is one of the last local celebrations to fall to COVID-19, although hope stays alive for a packed calendar across west central for 2021.