Dining downer: COVID cancels, postpones three major Lexington food events
Bad news, Lexington foodies: Three big dining events that take place in July are either canceled or postponed until the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The three dining events routinely drew thousands to local restaurants to take advantage of special deals and menus and produced a much-needed revenue stream in summer months.
Lexington Restaurant Week, typically 10 days of special deals at dozens locally owned area restaurants, is off, according to organizer Connie Jo Miller.
The dining event, which is designed to increase traffic to restaurants during the slow summer months, will be back in 2021, she said in an email.
Rather than push restaurant week back into fall or winter, she said they decided to wait a year.
“After speaking with restaurateurs who’ve participated since 2013, the consensus is consistent dates are very important,” Miller said in an email.
“Eight years ago when we established the first ever special week of any kind for Lexington restaurants, we chose the end of July as a good time to give the locally owned restaurants a needed boost with a chance of still attracting tourism and utilizing outdoor spaces,” she said in the statement. “The value of these locally owned spots has certainly been heightened by the pandemic, so I’m hoping we can show them a whole lotta love in 2021.”
She said they anticipate the dates will be July 22-Aug. 1, with new ticketed events. She said they are looking for a lead sponsor, who would also help choose the designated charity partner.
The news follows the announcement that the Crave Food and Music Festival, an annual outdoor event in August, won’t take place, although organizer Smiley Pete Publishing hopes to reschedule in the fall. No new date has been announced.
Smiley Pete also organizes Lexington Burger Week, which also is usually in July, and announced on Facebook this week that the event is now planned for Sept. 21-27. The popular dining week features restaurants serving special hamburgers for only $5.
Lexington restaurants are coping with reduced capacity from COVID-19 health restrictions.
The annual Picnic with the Pops concert, Railbird Music Festival and other summer food-friendly events also recently canceled for the year.
This story was originally published June 24, 2020 at 4:40 PM.
