File/Daily Citizen-NewsDianne Blassingill, left, and Sheila Wood avoid the rain as they sort prizes at a booth at the fairgrounds in this file photo from a previous North Georgia Fair.

North Georgia Fair Association officials are keeping a close watch on the new coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, and they say they haven’t made a decision about whether to cancel this fall’s agricultural fair.

“We will probably make a decision in the next couple of weeks,” said Frankie Shipman, fair secretary.

The fair is scheduled for Oct. 22 to Oct. 31 at the North Georgia Fairgrounds, 500 Legion Drive in Dalton.

The fall fair was first held in 1949. The fair hosts rides, games and carnival foods such as cotton candy and popcorn, as well as livestock and agricultural exhibits and contests.

Last week, the Chatsworth-Eton-Murray County Chamber of Commerce announced that it plans to proceed with the 14th annual Black Bear Festival, which will be Oct. 17-18. But organizers said they will be making some changes because of COVID-19. The festival will be at the old recreation center at 745 W. Chestnut St. in Chatsworth, instead of downtown Chatsworth. Only pre-packaged food will be available, for instance, and inflatables and face painting won’t be offered this year.

A number of other popular local festivals and events, including the Chief Vann House Days, the Off the Rails summer concert series in Dalton, the Prater’s Mill Country Fair and the reenactment of the Civil War Battle of Tunnel Hill, have been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.