RMAF Folds 'As We All Have Known It' After 2nd COVID Cancellation

The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest “as we have all known it will be no more,” emailed producers Marjorie Baumert and Marcie Miller Thursday, after COVID-19 forced them to scrap the event for the second straight year. “RMAF was our founder Al Stiefel’s dream, and we’ve done our best to nurture his vision for 12 years, along with help from the Colorado Audio Society and all our volunteers from around the world,” they said, saying they are “off to new adventures!” The next RMAF show was slated for Oct. 8-10 in Aurora, Colorado, at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center. “The very worst thing that we can envision is for someone to fall ill because they came to our show,” they said. Though parts of the U.S. are "fully open," COVID-19 cases and deaths are still rising, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "is projecting an even more deadly Lambda wave this fall,” they said: “We are frightened on behalf of our friends in the audio industry on many levels.” RMAF had produced new room layouts and a handbook for exhibitors in the hope the show would go on, and the website still showed the event as active Thursday, leading to confusion on social media. After following news reports of the virus, reading feedback from industry members “and watching the cancellation of numerous other shows, we no longer hold that hope,” they said. Peachtree Audio didn’t sign up to be an exhibitor for RMAF 2021 “mostly due to COVID concerns,” Jim Spainhour, head-product development, told us Thursday. Though RMAF was “never the largest show,” it was “the most fun and had the most positive vibes,” he said. “It would be nice if someone came in and did the heavy lifting for Marjorie so it could continue; but we should respect the decision. Those shows are a ton of work.” Anthony Kershaw, publisher of high-end publication Audiophilia, tweeted Thursday that RMAF's shutdown of RMAF is a “truly sad event.” Lars Johansen, chief sales officer at Perlisten Audio, emailed: "We are of course disappointed as we saw the exhibition as a major part of our expansion plans -- and that RMAF was a major part of our marketing strategy." Krell Industries Chief Operating Officer Walter Schofield called Thursday a “sad day for the audio world,” saying “the many successful RMAF events that the amazing team there put forth over the years will always be remembered fondly.".