The Red Dress Run, an annual event that brings thousands of revelers in red dresses—both male and female—to the French Quarter for a charity fundraiser each August, has been canceled for the second year in a row due to the pandemic.

The daylong event, which had been scheduled for Saturday, August 14, transforms much of the Vieux Carré into a large block party is sponsored by the New Orleans Hash House Carriers. The group’s board of directors met Sunday and unanimously agreed to cancel the 2021 gathering due to a spike in COVID-19 infections that has overwhelmed hospitals in metro New Orleans.  The announcement of the cancellation was made on Monday morning.

The New Orleans Hash House Harriers organized in 1988 with the motto “A New Orleans Drinking Club with a Running Problem.” Over the years the group has raised more than $2 million for local charities through the Red Dress Run.

The cancellation comes one day after the postponement of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival to the spring of 2002 and the cancellation White Linen Night due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.