Coronavirus Prompts Cancellation Of New England Folk Festival

ACTON, MA — The New England Folk Festival will not be celebrating it's 76th anniversary this year after fears of spreading the new Coronavirus prompted event officials to announce the cancellation on Monday.

The festival was scheduled for April 24 through the 26 in Acton — it serves as a celebration of folk dance, music, crafts, and food from many places and culture. The New England Folk Festival Association, a cultural and educational, volunteer-run, non-profit organization, released a statement to patrons on Monday, apologizing and explaining the cancellation.

While the event is still a little over a month away, NEFFA organizers said they wanted to announce the cancellation with time so that performers and patrons could make other travel arrangements. Organizers said the speed of the spread of the virus took many by surprise and that the cancellation is out of caution and for the health and safety of patrons.

"Many of the features that make our Festival the wonderful, community-building event that it is make it especially problematic for this kind of public health crisis. We gather people from all over the country (some from overseas), crowd young and old into enclosed spaces, and encourage people to hold hands and dance face-to-face, in close proximity. No amount of handwashing can overcome the potential for disease transmission in this environment. All the recommendations for reducing the impact in the spread of a new disease include “social distancing,” and we feel it is the responsible decision to respect those guidelines," Janet Yeracaris, NEFFA President, said in a statement.

While there have been no cases of COVID-19 in Acton, there have been several in Massachusetts. As of Sunday, the number of cases of the virus in Massachusetts was 28 with one confirmed case. A UMass-Boston student remains the only case confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID-19 has been identified by the state in the 12 other cases and are awaiting CDC confirmation.

Events aren't the only things being canceled due to the virus, several school districts across the state announced closures to do a deep cleaning of the facilities.

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Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There is as yet no vaccine against COVID-19 it and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, to wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and to use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

To avoid spreading any respiratory illness, the CDC recommends staying at home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the trash, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.