Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience canceled for 2021
Five Rivers MetroParks has canceled the Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience at Eastwood MetroPark for the second year in a row.
Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience canceled for 2021
Due to current precautions recommended to slow the spread of COVID-19, as well as the increased support and planning needed to meet current public health guidelines, the annual Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience has been cancelled.
A Five Rivers MetroParks event, the Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience is the region’s premier outdoor adventure festival and a celebration of Dayton as the Outdoor Adventure Capital of the Midwest. The event hosts dozens of exhibitors and food trucks, live entertainment, competitions and more than 20 hands-on, outdoor activities, attracting more than 25,000 attendees in 2019. The event was not held in 2020.
“An event of this magnitude takes a year to plan and hundreds of MetroParks staff, volunteers, exhibitors, partners, sponsors and recreation professionals who travel from across the country,” said MetroParks Outdoor Recreation Special Event Coordinator Angela York. “To be good stewards of taxpayer funds, we have to consider the time and resources it takes to successfully plan and host a large-scale event like this, as well as the increased staff and volunteer needs to support this event.”
MetroParks is one of many national and regional parks agencies that has cancelled large events, in addition to local organizations that have cancelled large annual festivals that could not be safely or comfortably held with the current public health guidelines, even as the mass vaccination rollout is underway.
“In addition to connecting people to nature through outdoor recreation experiences, the Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience is a celebration of all nature can do for your physical and mental well-being,” York said. “We look forward to being able to host the event in the future and are choosing to use our time to plan for an incredible event in 2022.”
