Popular Pinedorado festival canceled in Cambria due to coronavirus concerns
It’s official: Because of ever-changing conditions and restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cambria Lions Club canceled its 2020 Pinedorado festival, a multi-day event that has been a Labor Day weekend tradition on the North Coast for seven decades.
Aaron Linn, Lions president, confirmed July 17 that the club’s board of directors voted to “cancel the festival and parade for this year.”
He said the club will “still have a presence that weekend, but we’re not announcing yet what that is, because the details of it are still not clear to us at this point.”
Pinedorado historically draws big crowds from all over the county and state, usually spanning up to six days over the holiday period, with nearly all of the events being held over the three-day weekend.
In recent years, heavily attended events include the traditional Saturday parade, barbecue, a car show, Follies shows at night and game and food booths on the Pinedorado grounds.
Follies shows also have been canceled for 2020, according to producer Randall Schwalbe.
Next year’s version “will be bigger and better than ever before,” the follies group said in a July 13 news release. “The 2021 Follies will be two years in the making, featuring amazing sets, action, and special effects added to a great storyline and music that will grab your heart.”
Linn said the painful decision to cancel this year’s Pinedorado was “just good judgment … given the current state of affairs.”
Within about a week before that decision, with coronavirus cases skyrocketing, the state rolled back reopenings of certain business sectors in counties on the state’s watch list.
San Luis Obispo County was placed on that list July 13, prompting the closures of gyms, hair salons and other businesses.
Linn said that deciding to cancel the 2020 Pinedorado impacts the Cambria Lions Club beyond community disappointment and the effect on the local economy, which has been battered during pandemic-caused shutdowns.
For instance, he said, the “Lions Club relies on Pinedorado to raise funds” for its service work in the community, which includes the farmers market, Artbeat and many donations to nonprofits and community causes.
“We just shelled out more than ever for the Community Meals Project,” Linn said, which helped to provide food and other necessities for those whose financial wellbeing had been hammered by layoffs and other shut-down factors.
“We’ll need to backfill our coffers somehow to be prepared for future needs and the scholarships we provide,” the Lions president said.
He added that donations are always welcomed and can be mailed to Cambria Lions, P.O. Box 717, Cambria, CA 93428.
