Here’s a list of Appalachian Trail festivals and their status as of March 21 for 2020 due to coronavirus concerns or other reasons, listed by date:

April — Trailfest, Hot Springs, NC: A message on the Hot Springs event website says the 2020 iteration is CANCELED.

April 25-26 — ATC Flip Flop Festival, Harpers Ferry, WV: The ATC hasn’t updated the page for the Flip Flop yet, nor have I seen other notices of a change. But the ATC did say Harpers Ferry office is closed and that it was canceling events to prevent the coronavirus spread.

May 2 — AT Museum Hall of Fame Banquet, Carlisle, Pa.: The museum at Pine Grove Furnace State Park (Pa.) has announced it has postponed the banquet until Nov. 7, 2020.

May 15-17 — Trail Days, Damascas, Va.: Trail Days was CANCELED on Friday on the advice of the Virginia Department of Health.

June 13 — Mason-Dixon Appalachian Trail Outdoor Fest, Waynesboro, Pa.: At this time, it appears the Greater Waynesboro Appalachian Trail Community is still planning for the event. It’s webpage hasn’t been updated to include a postponement or cancellation. Kathy Seiler from GWATC emailed me to say they’re still planning for it. “Our steering committee is holding out hope that we can proceed with our June 13 Outdoor Festival, but we have set early May as our go/no go decision week,” she wrote. 

June 20 — Duncannon AT Festival, Duncannon, Pa.: As I reported yesterday, locals are still planning the event, but if the coronavirus outbreak continues, they could cancel it closer to the date.

Sept. 11-13 — Dahlonega Trail Festival, Dahlonega, Ga.: It appears this festival is still being planned. The website is current, and I do not see any notices of cancellation.

Sept. 11-13 — Trails End Festival, Millinocket, Maine: Again, with this festival being so far out, it appears they’re still planning for it to happen. The website is current and I don’t see notices of cancellation at this time. Music acts have yet to be announced.

More gatherings can be found at the Appalachian Long Distance Hiker Association website. The above list focuses on general festivals rather than association-specific events.

If you have additional festival updates or have an update on one of the above, email me: jimtryan99[at]gmail.com.St

For more information on the coronavirus, how to keep yourself and family safe, and how not to spread it, please visit the CDC’s website.

I sincerely hope we are able to get this plague under control so that these and other gatherings can go forward. If not, then what are we surviving for?