Coronavirus Derails Riverhead Polish Town Street Fair & Festival

RIVERHEAD, NY — For the first time in 47 years, the streets of Polish Town in Riverhead won't be filled with polka music and the mouthwatering scent of pierogies come August — the annual Polish Town Street Fair and Festival has been canceled due to the coronavirus.

Polish Town Civic Association president Kay Davis, when asked how she felt to have to pull the plug on the festivities said: "We didn't cancel the fair. We've never canceled the fair — coronavirus did. It's something we were forced to do."

The annual contest to crown a new Miss Polish Town USA was also derailed, Davis said.

Davis said all involved felt "very badly that we can't have the festival. But we'll carry on next year and it will be bigger and better — with more strength, energy and love."

On the weekend of what would have been the fair, August 15 and 15, Davis said she and other volunteer will still wear Polish Town T-shirts.

There was no way to avoid the outcome, Davis said; due to the phased reopening of the economy as a result of the pandemic, the Suffolk County Health Department said they could not issue a permit until Long Island had reached Phase 4, which may happen in July.

"How can you put a fair together in four weeks?" Davis asked. She said she'd also reached out to local elected officials and the chief of police, but there was no way to move forward.

"We are all very saddened by it," she said. "But next year, the festival will be better than ever."

Other events, including the Mattituck Lions Club Strawberry Festival, Dances in the Park in Greenport, and the Southampton July 4 parade have also been canceled.