Cowboy Poetry cancels 2021 event, citing coronavirus concern

A silhouette of a country musician standing with a banjo. Cowboy. Dramatic sunset. Relaxed. Poet.

A silhouette of a country musician standing with a banjo. Cowboy. Dramatic sunset. Relaxed. Poet.

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ELKO — The annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Nevada is joining other music and art festivals around the nation canceling in-person events due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Western Folklife Center executive Kristen Windbigler tells the Elko Daily Free Press that organizers hope to provide online podcast and video shows instead of the six-day annual festival in late January 2021.

Board members decided they could not commit to contracts for the event, and that canceling at the last minute could have been more financially devastating to the organization and its future.

The festival has been held in Elko since 1985.

Some other events canceled for 2020 to prevent crowds from gathering and spreading the contagious COVID-19 illness include Life Is Beautiful in Las Vegas, the Essence Festival in New Orleans, Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals outside Palm Springs, California, and Lollapalooza in Chicago.

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ELKO — The annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Nevada is joining other music and art festivals around the nation canceling in-person events due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Western Folklife Center executive Kristen Windbigler tells the Elko Daily Free Press that organizers hope to provide online podcast and video shows instead of the six-day annual festival in late January 2021.

Board members decided they could not commit to contracts for the event, and that canceling at the last minute could have been more financially devastating to the organization and its future.

The festival has been held in Elko since 1985.

Some other events canceled for 2020 to prevent crowds from gathering and spreading the contagious COVID-19 illness include Life Is Beautiful in Las Vegas, the Essence Festival in New Orleans, Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals outside Palm Springs, California, and Lollapalooza in Chicago.