Ann Arbor Monroe Street Fair, companion to Hash Bash, postponed on virus fears

The Monroe Street Fair, a free concert and street party that's a companion event to Ann Arbor's Hash Bash, has been "proactively rescheduled" from April 4 to the fall due to fear of the coronavirus.

More:Michigan coronavirus cases confirmed in Oakland, Wayne counties

On Tuesday night, after polls closed for the primary election, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Michigan has its first confirmed cases of the coronavirus — one in Wayne County, the other in Oakland County.

"It has moved into Michigan," Whitmer said. "...Please make sure your family and friends are taking every preventative measure possible."

Tuesday night the people behind the Monroe Street Fair decided the risk was too great to proceed, and rescheduled the event for the fall, "to a time when we know more."

An exact date was not offered in the announcement. 

"We are optimistically rescheduling the fair until a time when we have a better understanding of the scale of what’s going on and the actual health risks we face" Charles Strackbein, founder of the Monroe Street Fair, now in its 19th year, said in a statement. 

While the Hash Bash dates back to 1972, the Monroe Street Fair came 30 years later, in 2002.

The Hash Bash has transitioned from a Saturday morning rally on the University of Michigan Diag to a weekend-long affair, running from the first Friday through the first Sunday in April. 

Hash Bash and Monroe Street Fair organizers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services has coronavirus information, which will be updated daily with the latest statistics on how many people have the virus and how many have been tested for it.