Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair Canceled Due To COVID-19

MANHATTAN BEACH — For the first time in its nearly 50-year history, the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair will be canceled, according to President Joe Marcy, who made the public announcement today (Wednesday, June 24). The announcement was made in the following letter:

"After much thought and consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel our Hometown Fair scheduled for October 3-4, 2020. We know many of you were looking forward to the festivities this fall. We assure you, no one is more disappointed than us. The Hometown Fair has always been a safe place to gather, perform and fundraise for 48 years. This decision was not taken lightly. Our priority has to be the health and safety of our community.

Our event typically welcomes 80,000+ attendees over fair weekend and we’re categorized under stage 4 of Governor Newsom’s reopening plan. As previously stated by the Governor, treatment or a vaccine would be necessary in order for us to reopen. An event of this scale doesn’t happen overnight. It’s therefore important that we make this decision at this time. For those that have submitted booth applications, refunds will be issued in the coming weeks.

In the spirit of tradition and giving back, the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair Association’s Board of Directors have approved $10,000 for grants. These grants will be distributed to our community clubs, boosters and non-profits.

For those that rely on our fair to raise money, we want to help. Applications will be available on mbfair.org starting August 1st. We’ll award the grants fair weekend: October 3-4, 2020.

While we may not be able to meet in the traditional way, we do intend to have a strong community presence. Please visit mbfair.org and follow us on social media as we prepare to launch our online auction/raffle and merchandise store. We’ll also spotlight local artists and businesses.

We’d like to thank the city for their partnership and the community for their support.

Get to know the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair Association’s Board of Directors:

• Joe Marcy, President
• Dana Old, Vice President & Director of Food
• Jeanna Harkenrider, Treasurer
• Karen Tokashiki, Secretary
• Nellie Ambrose, Director of Games/Member At Large
• Kari Carpino, Director of Volunteers
• Diane Charvat, Director of South Stage
• Tamarie Cuneo, Director of Arts & Crafts
• Kim Edwards, Director of Information, Free Speech & Civic Corner
• Mark Finley, Director of Main Stage
• Renee Hall, Director of Food
• Taylor Hartwig, Director of Community Showcase
• Tom Jeffrey, Director of Kid Country
• Anne Kelly, Director of Merchandise
• Robert Manriquez, Director of Environmental Services & Communication
• Mary Morigaki, Director of Wine Garden
• Mary O’Keefe-Fay, Director of Community Relations
• Betty Wan, Director of Publicity
• Peter Yollin, Director of Traffic & Security
• Bea Zimbalist, Director of Beer Garden

You can contact any of us directly on our website.

We will meet again - and like you, we can’t wait for that moment to come. See you on the fairgrounds October 2-3, 2021!

Joe Marcy
President
Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair Association