Indiana Black Expo cancels Summer Celebration, Circle City Classic events due to COVID-19

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana Black Expo (IBE) is canceling in-person events for the summer.

Canceled events include Summer Celebration’s Free Concert, Exhibition Hall, 50th Anniversary Gala and All White Affair in July and Circle City Classic events in September.

“While the current opinions of the health experts are that the virus is expected to peak in Indiana (as well as other states) by early May, followed by an anticipated trend of decreasing pandemic-related hospitalizations and deaths, there are other troubling health risk factors that must be considered as well,” IBE said in a statement. “Despite the encouraging forecasts, we find ourselves no closer to a vaccine, we continue to be challenged by insufficient testing nationwide, and there are still many unknowns about the virus. Even more alarming is the impact of COVID-19 within the African American population nationwide. We are suffering disproportionately.”

IBE is going viral by hosting seminars, conferences and summits online. It will all be free for attendees, but the organization is still loosing money between the Summer Celebration and Circle City Classic.

President and CEO Tanya McKinzie said, “Absolutely, 85% of our revenue for our budget comes from these events. Summer Celebration of Classic, it is definitely a hard loss for us. We are no different than any other very small business out there that is trying to stay afloat during this time period.”

Indiana Black Expo will have a schedule of virtual events available in a few weeks.

Information about refunds will be posted here.