Letter from MFGA
No in-person Common Ground Fair this year
Wed, 09/01/2021 - 6:15pm
MOFGA’s annual Common Ground Fair is a Maine tradition, but for the second year in a row, it will not take as usual in Unity at the nonprofit’s fairgrounds, given the ongoing pandemic. (File photo Lynda Clancy)
MOFGA’s annual Common Ground Fair is a Maine tradition, but for the second year in a row, it will not take as usual in Unity at the nonprofit’s fairgrounds, given the ongoing pandemic. (File photo Lynda Clancy)
UNITY — Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners (MOFGA) sent the following letter today, Sept. 1:
It is with heavy hearts that we’re writing today to let you know that we have decided not to move forward with an in-person Common Ground Country Fair this year.
The ongoing pandemic, rising COVID-19 cases throughout Maine, and valuable feedback from our community have led us to this point. We did not come to this decision easily and know that people will have mixed reactions and emotions, as we all do. So many people have worked very hard to put on a 2021 fair, including countless volunteer hours. We honor the hard work and dedication of all who make the Fair happen each year. In the end, we feel this large-scale community building event should not take place in the current COVID-19 situation.
MOFGA’s mission to support thriving rural communities, includes our commitment to our farmers, food producers, vendors, exhibitors, performing artists and volunteers. Our educational mission continues and we’re actively working through a number of scenarios that will enable us to continue the spirit of Common Ground in a safe way. These include:
- Creating videos of educational content that will be made available at no charge to the public and released during the weekend of the Fair at mofga.org.
- Exploring how we can support vendors and exhibitors through our online store and brick and mortar location in Freeport.
- Determining if we can host smaller events at our campus in Unity to highlight areas of the Fair throughout the fall in a safe manner.
We hope that we will be able to hold a successful in-person Common Ground Country Fair on September 23, 24 and 25, 2022. It will be an all hands on deck planning process that will begin later this fall and we’ll need our full community to make this a reality.
If you’ve already purchased your tickets to the Fair, we’ll be contacting you in the coming week about refunds or transitioning those to a donation to MOFGA.
When we made the decision to move forward in May we hoped that we’d be in a different place with the pandemic based on the information that was available at the time. By working together, we hope that we will all get through this difficult situation. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Sincerely,
The Fair Contingency Team
Sarah Alexander, Executive Director
Heather Spalding, Deputy Director
April Boucher, Fair Director
Jason Tessier, Buildings & Grounds Director
Katy Green, Communications Director
Anna Miller, Operations Director
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