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It is with sadness that we share the difficult decision made by the AOFTA Board of Directors to cancel the 2020 An Occasion for the Arts.

This decision was made after weeks of careful deliberation about the challenging and evolving impacts of COVID-19, and was informed by the recently published Phase 3 Guidelines of the Governor of Virginia.

The free and un-gated access to the show simply would not allow us to provide the proper environment for safe physical distancing and adherence to the Governor's Guidelines. Health experts are warning of likely outbreaks this fall because of the strength of the virus and the lack of public compliance with rules about social distancing and other safety actions. We are confident this is the best decision to ensure the safety of artists and the safety of our community.

We will postpone the event until next year and plan to celebrate the 52nd An Occasion for the Arts on October 2 and 3, 2021.

All accepted artists to this year's show will be posted to this website (aofta.org) in August 2020. We are considering holding a virtual event in the fall. More about this later.