The bi-annual Street Faire, held during fall and spring term by the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, will not be returning this fall due to concerns of increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases in Lane County.
“The safety and wellbeing of all students come first and we don’t want to take any actions that may put them at risk,” ASUO wrote in an Instagram post. “It would be very difficult to create a safety plan that could be properly implemented to keep all students safe.”
For over 40 years, the Street Faire drew large crowds by hosting dozens of vendors, from food stalls to plant and clothing shops, across 13th Avenue between Kincaid and University Street.
In the past, ASUO has turned a $6,000 to $7,000 profit from the Street Faire, making it one of the organization’s biggest fundraisers, according to Lincoln.
“The proceeds made from it are typically used to fund ASUO interests and programs, such as our food security fund (which finances on-campus food pantries); the money also goes towards funding for the executive branch of ASUO,” Lincoln said.
However, ASUO finances won’t be significantly affected as most profits are used by the executive branch for programming, according to Lincoln.
“As representatives of the school, we take the safety and wellbeing of students very seriously,” she said, “it is our top priority and we felt that hosting a faire would pose too great a risk to our students, faculty, and vendors to continue with it.”
This decision comes on the heels of an increase of COVID-19 cases across the state, especially among the college-age population and those under 30. As of July 22, there have been a total of 15,393 positive cases of COVID-19 in Oregon and 271 total deaths attributed to the disease.
Over the weekend of July 18 alone, Lane County Public Health reported 47 new cases. UO announced four new cases of COVID-19 on the Eugene campus on July 20, bringing the total to 40.
