Canceled! Calling it a Grand Old Day in St. Paul

Grand Old Day in St. Paul has been canceled for this year, its organizers announced Tuesday.

The annual celebration has been going for 45 years and regularly draws a quarter million people to Grand Avenue over the first weekend in June.

Allison Penner-Hurst, interim president of the festival's organizer, the Grand Avenue Business Association, said in a statement posted on Facebook that it was a difficult decision.

"The costs this year to produce an event of this magnitude were just not at the pace that matched the dollars that were coming in," said Penner-Hurst.

Grand Old Day is the second summer tradition in St. Paul to falter in recent years. The city canceled its annual fireworks display for the Fourth of July in 2018 — also citing costs.

Penner-Hurst said they hope to bring the festival back in 2020.

"We are just trying to take a step back this year for Grand Old Day. We want to kind of give it a fresh new look and decide kind of what the vision is going forward," she said.