Organizers of the popular Live from the Rock Folk Festival in Red Rock Ont., have cancelled their 2020 event, citing public health concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Every year for the past 17 years, the Live from the Rock Blues and Folk Society has proudly presented a festival that brings the community and region together to celebrate music and the arts on the north shore of Lake Superior and this will be the first time in the organization's history that the festival will not be happening," said Laura Foulds, festival chair, in a media release Tuesday.

The 2020 Live from the Rock Folk Festival was scheduled to take place from August 7 to 9, 2020.

Organizers said they considered the planning, logistics and the timeline of activities required to hold the Live from the Rock Folk Festival this year, and ultimately determined that "there are too many unknown variables" that will prevent them from organizing a safe and successful August event.

"Although cancelling the 18th annual festival was a difficult decision, it was absolutely the right one to make as the health, safety and wellbeing of the entire Live from the Rock community, as well as our greater community and region, is the top priority," said Foulds.

Festival organizers said they hope that the next festival can be held during the second weekend of August 2021, as long as it is safe to reopen public parks and host public gatherings in Ontario at that time.

"Live from the Rock has an amazing group of dedicated volunteers, sponsors and supporters of the festival who remain committed to the continued success of this amazing community experience," adds Foulds.

"We are confident that when the festival returns and it is safe for everyone to be together again, the next event will be one of the best yet since in addition to music, art, family and community, together we will all have so much more to appreciate and celebrate."