FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The 32nd Fort Wayne Farm Show, originally scheduled for mid-January, has been postponed until March 9-11.

The change was made after additional restrictions were placed on crowd size in Allen County due to the coronavirus pandemic, said Fred Cline, a show director with Tradexpos, which produces the show. The county health commissioner has announced an event limit of 100 people due to an increase of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the community.

“We had been following the local health department and the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum,” he explained. “(Coliseum officials) have been extremely informative and helping us. But as things have changed, it got to the point where we were looking more at safety issues as compared to dollars and cents.”

A few weeks ago, Tradexpos submitted a plan that included taller side curtains for exhibitor booths and one-way aisles in an attempt to make the show safe for attendees and exhibitors, Cline said. Restrictions in place then would have put crowd size at no more than 3,000 in the building at a time. Past shows have drawn more than 30,000 over three days.

Attendee and exhibitor safety is the primary concern, he stated. Cline said the company’s thinking has been, “Tradexpos will survive if we have to cancel a farm show, but what happens if one of our attendees doesn’t?”

Many of the exhibitors who had already signed up for the Fort Wayne show are willing to make the transition to March, he noted. “The exhibitors are anxious to get back in and do a show. There are some legitimate concerns, though. For equipment dealers, in January, they’re doing some repairs and they’re doing some preparation for the season. In March, they’re doing a lot of it and are extremely busy.”

Cline isn’t sure what will happen if local and state restrictions are still in place in March. Any dates in April or May would probably be too close to planting season, he said. “The March dates are probably our last shot to have a show this year,” Cline said.

At press time, two Kansas shows produced by Tradexpos – Mulvane, Dec. 3-5, and Topeka, Jan. 5-7 – are still on, he said. The March 2020 North American Farm & Power Show in Owatonna, Minn., was canceled.