On September 14, 2020, The National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic their 2021 event needed to be cancelled. On September 15, the Grand Island Livestock Complex Authority (GILCA) began exploring the potential of hosting a one-time Livestock Show as an alternative to the cancelled NWSS in Grand Island, Nebraska. GILCA’s stakeholders, representing Fonner Park, Nebraska State Fair, Grand Island Chamber of Commerce and Grand Island Tourism, began making plans for The NebraskaN Livestock Show to be held at the Fonner Park/State Fair livestock complex and scheduled for 16 days in January 2021. We have been truly gratified by the overwhelming support for the show from the national livestock community, the City of Grand Island, and the citizens and businesses of Nebraska and planning was well underway.
Unfortunately, we are announcing today that The NebraskaN Livestock Show has become another casualty of the COVID epidemic and will be cancelled. Our priority has always been protecting the health and safety of event attendees and Grand Island residents. We had instituted guidelines and other safety measures that we felt addressed those needs. However, with the rise of the epidemic nationally and the recent guidelines that have been enacted in Nebraska and other states, the logistics of putting on a quality event is no longer possible. It grieves us that we will not be able to host this event for the community of Grand Island, Nebraska. We genuinely wanted to support the national beef cattle industry and the commercial vendors in having an alternative to their traditional January event. All entry fees and vendor reservations that have been received will be returned.
We want to thank all of those that have been involved in the planning and hard work to prepare for The NebraskaN Livestock Show.
