When the first annual Mesa County Fall Carnival opened on Oct. 15, people from all over the county flocked to Grand Junction for a welcome escape from reality.

Despite the mandate for masks when social distancing could not be enforced, and despite the extra hand washing and the hand sanitizer stations, attendees were still able to enjoy a foot-long hot dog, cotton candy or even smooth ride on the Ferris wheel.

Through Monday, according to fair grounds manager Kyle Carsten, the carnival was on track to be the biggest event ever held at the Mesa County Fair Grounds.

But on Monday evening, due to a recent spike of COVID-19 cases within Mesa County, officials canceled the remaining five days, halting the carinal halfway through its scheduled run.

“I’m just thankful that we had the opportunity to get a little bit of revenue,” Carsten said.

“Anything that’s positive is a win for us, even if we had to shut down early, and we’ve had to cancel over 90 events this year alone. So for us to host this carnival for five days, while making sure everyone was safe and having a good time, is a win for us.”

On Tuesday, crews began disassembling the 18 rides, food booths, and cleaning stations.

From July through the middle of September case, numbers had declined throughout the county. But that number has drastically increased since the start of October.

According to Mesa County Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard, 126 cases were reported on Oct. 11: The highest number since the start of the pandemic.

Carsten said shutting down was the only and clear option to assure everyone’s safety.

“If we’re having a spike in cases, having a carnival might not be the best thing to do, because it only takes one person who might not know they have (the virus), to attend and cause an outbreak,” Carsten said.

Although the first annual Mesa County Fall Carnival only made it half of it’s scheduled time block, Carsten is hopeful for the second annual fall carnival next year.

“We’re planning on doing this every year, ” he said. “As long as everything is going well in our country and our state, you know, hopefully have a vaccine or all the cases starts flattening out and life gets back to normal, it’s something we look forward to hosting annually.”