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For the first time since its inception, San Francisco announced its famed gay pride parade and festivities, held on June 27 and 28, will be canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified in recent weeks, and the organization has concluded that the risks to public health of a large-scale gathering such as Pride preclude this year’s production of the annual event,” the Board of Directors of San Francisco Pride wrote in an open letter this week announcing the cancellation.

“This was not a decision we arrived at lightly,” Executive Director Fred Lopez said in the letter. “Since the coronavirus first emerged, we have held out hope that the situation would shift and we would be able to gather later this year.

“Well before the first shelter-in-place order, our team began to balance our excitement for Pride 50 and evaluate possible alternatives. With heavy hearts, we have decided not to go forward with the Parade and Celebration in 2020.”