Costa Mesa’s Concerts in the Park, Lions Fish Fry are the latest coronavirus casualties

Organizers for Costa Mesa’s annual summertime Concerts in the Park series and the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Fish Fry have announced the popular events will not take place in 2020, due to shelter-in-place restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic.

The concert series, organized by the nonprofit Costa Mesa Foundation, typically takes place Tuesdays throughout the month of July in the city’s Fairview Park and is supported by city staff.

Free to the public, the event drew nearly 3,000 attendees with live music, gourmet food trucks and a range of family activities.

Foundation President Nichole Scott said in a release issued by city officials Monday organizers were “heartbroken” to have to cancel this year’s festivities.

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But with Fairview Park facilities remaining largely closed, even after city officials agreed last week to begin opening many parks to active use only, it made sense to call off the large gathering, Scott reasoned.

“COVID-19 has shown to be extremely contagious, and having concerts with very large crowds would endanger the public,” Scott said. “This is something both the Costa Mesa Foundation and the city are trying to prevent.”

The annual fish fry was scheduled to take place this year, from Oct. 2 to 4. Lions Club President Phil Marsh said the cancellation decision was made out of an “abundance of caution” and a desire to protect public health.

“This would have been our 73rd annual event, and this was a very difficult decision,” he said. “But we look forward to being back in 2021 when the Fish Fry will return to Lions Park.”

News of the closures followed on the heels Monday of a similar announcement made by the Laguna Beach Festival of Arts that its annual Fine Arts Show and Pageant of the Masters, scheduled for July and August, would not take place as planned.

Scott invited the public to mark their calendars for the 2021 Concert in the Park series and urged people to visit costamesafoundation.org and support community sponsors also financially impacted by the crisis.

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