For the second year in a row, the Delcambre Shrimp Festival will not take place.

The Shrimp Festival Board of Directors announced Tuesday that they are canceling the 2021 edition of the festival because of the uptick in COVID-19 cases. According to a letter released by the board, they made the decision during a meeting Sunday.

"We as a board could not see ourselves putting the well-being of our valued volunteers, community members, and annual festival patrons in harms way in the wake of the COVID-19 uptick not only in our community but our state as well," the board's letter reads. "[W]e will be back bigger and better than ever in 2022," the letter concludes.

The announcement comes days after New Orleans's Jazz and Heritage Festival announced it canceled its October dates and is planning for its Spring 2022 dates. It also comes as other festival organizations around Acadiana are debating whether to go forward with events scheduled for the late summer and fall.

The Shrimp Festival Board's full letter announcing the cancellation is as follows:

Yet again we find ourselves facing the hardships COVID-19 has imposed on everyone. It is with a very heavy heart that I write this letter, but after careful consideration and deliberation, we the board of the Delcambre Shrimp Festival felt that it was in the best interest to cancel this year’s festival. We as a board could not see ourselves putting the well-being of our valued volunteers, community members, and annual festival patrons in harms way in the wake of the COVID-19 uptick not only in our community but our state as well.

Each year we pride ourselves with putting on one of the best festivals Louisiana has to offer. We as a board realized that there was no possible way, we could have given you a festival that would have been to our standards, which as many of you know are very high standards. This was not an easy decision especially after all the hard work that has already gone into the planning of this year’s festival.

To our sponsors we thank each one of you for your continued support and hope that you will continue to support us in the future. To our residents and neighboring communities that patronize our festival, as well as our visiting friends we are sorry, but it is out of concern for each an everyone of you that we have come to this difficult decision again this year.

We have an obligation to give back to our community which the platform upon which our festival was founded. Trust me when I say this is not the end, we will be back bigger and better than ever in 2022. So, until then everyone please stay safe.

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