Genoa's famous and historic Candy Dance canceled for 2020

GENOA, Nev. - For the past 100 years, the Town of Genoa has held a Candy Dance but the 101st event is being canceled due to COVID-19. In a 5-0 vote Wednesday, the Genoa Town Advisory Board decided to forego the event due to health and safety concerns for residents, vendors, staff and sponsors.

"Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the level of service and safety that is required to effectively execute the 2020 Candy Dance. This decision does not come without significant impact to our Town, our heritage and our budget, but it was the right decision to make," the Town Council said in a statement.

The Genoa "Candy Dance" originated in 1919 as an effort to raise money to purchase street lights for the small, but enterprising community of Genoa, Nevada's first settlement. Lillian Virgin Finnegan, daughter of then prominent Judge Daniel Webster Virgin, suggested the idea of a dance and making candy to pass around during the dance as an incentive for a good "turn-out" of couples.

With the help of her aunt, Jane Raycraft Campbell, and the female populous of Genoa, delicious samples of candy really made the evening special. Of course, the midnight supper served at the Raycraft Hotel was, as always, a culinary delight. So, if the candy did not entice people to join in the fun, the midnight supper was surely an incentive.

It continued to help pay the annual electric bills for the town's lights. The large craft show was added in the 1970s.

“COVID-19 has presented us with no other option than to cancel the 2020 Genoa Candy Dance. This event relies on multi-agency permitting and significant investment," said Genoa Town Manager JT Chevallier in a statement. "The fact remains there are far too many unknowns to be able to properly and safely plan a large-scale event. Additionally, there is no way to predict when restrictions will be lifted to provide the opportunity to produce the event. We will be working with our 2020 Candy Dance vendors to provide refunds or roll their deposits to the 2021 event."

"We are all in this together. We refuse to allow the cancellation to extinguish our passion and dedication to ensuring Candy Dance 2021 is one for the record books.I want to sincerely thank all of our residents, businesses, vendors and community for their ongoing support for the Town of Genoa,” added Chevallier.