VIRGINIA BEACH (WAVY) — The Pungo Strawberry Festival in Virginia Beach has been canceled for the third straight year, organizers announced Friday, just three months ahead its Memorial Day Weekend scheduled date.
They say it was due to “unforeseen circumstances and the time constraints to resolve the issues.”
WAVY has reached out to learn more about what exactly the issues were.
“The board has regrettably made the decision to cancel the 2022 Pungo Strawberry Festival,” organizers said in a Facebook post. “We will work on resolutions for the 2023 festival. We are truly sorry and looking forward to 2023.”
The news of the cancellation brought lots of sad reactions Friday on social media.
The festival is typically held over Memorial Day weekend in the southern Virginia Beach community. It was canceled in 2021 and 2020 due to pandemic safety concerns.
The event is volunteer-run and had “substantial” losses after having to cancel last minute in 2020. Organizers canceled in January in 2021 because they said they couldn’t do that again. Typically the festival pays for expenses up front and recoups the money during the event.
Vendor applications for the 2022 festival had gone out at the beginning of February.
This is a breaking article and will be updated.