The ‘Rona continues to ruin everything. IMS Outdoors has announced the cancellation of their 2021 event in Brooklyn, New York.

“As a result of the state of New York’s recent decision to enforce proof of vaccination and rapid testing for public events of scale, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the New York event,” said IMS Outdoors in an Instagram post. “This is a choice that we firmly believe is in the best interest of our attendee and exhibit communities for both their safety and event experience.” IMS Outdoors will refund all tickets for the NYC event within 7-10 days.

“We remain confident that the other Progressive IMS Outdoors events on the 2021 schedule, each with less restrictive health and safety mandates, will continue as planned, including the Pennsylvania event happening September 10-12 at the Carlisle Fairgrounds.” IMS Outdoors encourages anyone who was planning to attend the NYC event to go to Pennsylvania instead.

While the COVID-19 safety concern is legitimate, I think that in addition to the delta variant running rampant, the real issue here is suddenly being required to implement the new safety protocols so close to the event. It’s a huge amount of extra work that no one had planned on. Additionally, no one wants to be the bouncer who has to throw an angry biker out of the show for not complying with these requirements. Just look at Sturgis to see how many bikers think little of COVID-19 safety precautions.

I take the pandemic seriously, but I don’t blame IMS Outdoors for canceling the NYC show at all. This isn’t about not wanting to comply. It’s about being put into an impossible situation at the last minute with no time to prepare properly.