Rockhound Gemboree and Summer Art Show both cancelled

May 5, 2020

By Chris Drost

Although not unexpected, the Town of Bancroft has officially cancelled the 57th annual Rockhound Gemboree for 2020. This comes on top of the cancellation of Bancroft's Canada Day festivities and the popular annual Wheels, Water and Wings event.
“Visitors and vendors come from all over the place for the Gemboree, including the U.S. and overseas, and so we had to make this difficult decision. It would not be permitted under the current guidelines and we could not risk such a large gathering. The whole situation has really evolved,” says Bancroft Mayor Paul Jenkins.
This is not all the bad news. The other long-running Bancroft summertime event on the Civic Holiday weekend is the Bancroft Art and Craft Guild's Annual Summer Show in Millennium Park. Organizer, Nancy Brookes says, “Sadly, with the cancellation of the Gemboree we have had to cancel our event. That is the way it goes.” Brookes expressed disappointment for all the artists who depend on the show as a source of income. This would have been the 39th annual running of the Summer Art Show.
Other events in the region that are cancelled for this year include Maynooth Madness, events in Killaloe, the Wilberforce Agricultural Fair and the NC Boyz Tech Hard C.O.R.E. off-road event that had its successful inaugural year in Carlow Mayo in 2019. The bi-annual NewfStock originally planned for September has also been cancelled this year due to Covid-19.