Clinton County’s favorite fall gathering, the annual Foothills Festival, is the latest to fall victim to the COVID-19 virus.

After continuing to plan on bringing the October fall Foothills Festival to downtown Albany for the October 16 and 17 weekend, the Planning Committee announced last week it had made the decision to halt with the planning process and cancel the 2020 edition.

What would have been the 41st annual fall gathering in downtown Albany, was well into the planning stages as event organizers continued to work up to last week to bring the 2020 version to life.

But as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to cause events and plans to be changed around the world, it apparently became evident to the Planning Committee that there was simply too much at stake to hope to be able to safely produce the Foothills Festival this fall.

The decision to cancel this year’s Foothills Festival followed what was likely the most successful event ever in 2019, with a schedule that produced crowds of record numbers, especially for the Saturday night free concert featuring The Kentucky Headhunters.

This year’s headlining concert was going to be another performer well-known to the local area, Jake Hoot, a Tennessee Tech alumni who was the 2019 winner of the popular television talent showcase program, The Voice.

Word of the cancellation came officially in a press release issued to the Clinton County News by long-time Planning Committee member Renee Glover.

“Due to the many concerns and risks surrounding the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Foothills Festival Committee, after much prayerful and thoughtful consideration, has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Foothills Festival scheduled for October 16th and 17, 2020,” the notice said.

The release went on to say that the decision to cancel the 2020 Foothills Festival schedule was one that didn’t come easy for the group charged yearly with planning and organizing the event.

“The decision was reached after extensive research and discussion about the coronavirus and numerous challenges to ensure the health and safety of our volunteers and attendees. An event of this size creates an impossibility for social distancing and required temperature and health checks,” the press release noted.

It was also pointed out through the notice that although all planned events for the Foothills weekend schedule have been canceled, the Committee was still looking into the option of hosting a few events later in the year, with details about those developments to be released as they become available.

As previously noted, already deep into the planning stages for the 2020 Foothills Festival, work had already begun on producing the annual Official Foothills Festival Program, a combined schedule and look back at the previous (2019) Foothills Festival photographs.

However, the release assured that refunds to businesses that had already purchased advertising would be made, as well as refunds to any vendors that had already paid to reserve spaces around the courthouse square.

“We appreciate the tremendous support from our community and the many Foothills Festival Sponsors over the past 40 years and are already looking forward to 2021!,” the release concluded.

Come See It Our Way! – in 2021