We want to thank you for your continued support of the Nebraska Ag Expo and encouragement during the uncertain times that 2020 has brought us.
Last Friday the Mayor of Lincoln announced an effort to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and in doing so, all events with a capacity of 500 or more must be postponed until Dec. 7. With our move-in date of December 6th, this is too close for comfort to allow for modifications at that point. It is possible the state of Nebraska could also hit 25% of their hospital capacity with COVID-19 patients in the upcoming weeks, which would likely trigger Governor Pete Rickett’s to tighten restrictions to 10 people for indoor gatherings.
Also, most of you are aware that the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations has escalated dramatically over the past two weeks in Nebraska and across the country; however, even with all the health and safety protocols put in place, the added risk to all the Expo stakeholders has prompted us to relook at the current dates and general feasibility of the Expo.
After much discussion of these new developments with our Exhibit Committee, Board of Directors of the Association and selected exhibitors, we concur that holding an event in December is not plausible.
We know everyone was looking forward to this great ag event, so the decision has been made to postpone the Nebraska Ag Expo to February 23-25. Hopefully, this will provide adequate time for COVID-19 cases to decline substantially and perhaps even the deployment of a vaccine.
We look forward to seeing you in February.