A man wearing a Santa Claus hat makes his way toward the Christmas tree at this year’s 25th annual Winter Holiday Stroll. As he heads down Main Street, he joins a sea of thousands gathered in the heart of downtown Nashua to watch on as the tree is lit.

Great American Downtown officials announced Friday afternoon that the annual Taste of Downtown and the Winter Holiday Stroll for 2021 have been canceled. Earlier this week it was announced the October Pride event also was being nixed, all in light of the current COVID situation in the city. Below is Friday’s statement from Great American Downtown:

“After much consideration, and a review of the state of community spread of COVID19 with the City of Nashua, and under the advisement of the Division of Public Health and Community Services, we have made the difficult decision to not host the Taste of Downtown, Nashua’s Winter Holiday Stroll, and the Nashua Pride Parade and Festival this fall. We know that these events mean a lot to our community, to our neighbors, business owners, and to our community organizations. They help showcase and celebrate all that Downtown Nashua has to offer, the pride we have in our community, and drive visitors to explore many of the great shops and restaurants that they haven’t had a chance to come to love yet. This summer, we began to see a downtrend in cases – and had a great deal of hope for the return of these events. We will endure, and look forward to 2022 for their return.

Great American Downtown will continue our work to drive and promote vibrancy here in Downtown Nashua through our smaller but no less important events and programs like the Nashua Farmers Market, our Saturday Sidewalk sessions, the Downtown Scarecrows Competition, Dancin In The Park, and virtual offerings like the Nom Nom November Cookie Contest, the Nashua Holiday Lighting Contest, self guided public art tours, and through a variety of promotional efforts through our newsletter, website and on social media platforms. We will continue to work with Public Health to guide programs in a way the ensures we also support the health and wellbeing of our community while serving our mission.

We will also continue to work alongside the City, Downtown Improvement Committee, Nashua Regional Planning Commission, the United Way of Greater Nashua, Great Nashua Chamber of Commerce, NHSBDC, and all of our partners and friends to support the resiliency and success of our businesses and community organizations, and gather important feedback to help drive our continued recovery efforts.

It is because of the strength of our relationships, our open communication, and our working together that we have faired as well as we have in these challenging times. Thank you for all you do every day to make our city such an exceptional place to live, work, play and build a business – and for all the support your provide to one another as we continue to look forward to our brighter future here in Nashua.”