Riverhead Country Fair canceled — again! Downtown construction blamed

The Riverhead Country Fair committee has canceled the beloved festival for the second straight year — this time because downtown construction made the event unsafe to hold, organizers said Tuesday.

Susan Young, treasurer of Riverhead Townscape, said the active development on Main Street in Riverhead would have significantly affected the fair, which would have marked its 50th anniversary this year.

“We just don’t feel it’s safe. We wouldn’t be able to have the carnival because that’s all in a green construction fencing, and what fun is it for the kids to come just for the vendors,” Ms. Young told the Riverhead News-Review. “The parents like the vendors and the food, which is fine, but the kids need something and there would be no place to put it.”

Two vendors who had already submitted applications for the fair — typically held in October — had to be refunded, she said. Last year’s event was scrapped after a nor’easter flooded downtown.

The event celebrates the region’s agricultural heritage with homemaking, farm and garden competitions, and a street fair along Main Street featuring vendors, live music, displays and carnival rides.

Conversations with Riverhead officials about this year’s fair began earlier this year, said Ms. Young. She and her husband, Bruce Young, have been involved in planning the Riverhead Country Fair for more than 40 years.

Town officials discussed possibly moving the event to either the Town Hall parking lot or the court parking lot along Railroad Avenue.

Ms. Young said the committee did not think vendors would be comfortable in those spots.

“We thought of all the possibilities, different places where we could have it, but none of them seemed appropriate,” she said. “People don’t realize the work that goes into it, and there’s only a handful of us that do it. We hope that we can come back bigger and better next year.”