Charlotte’s St. Patrick’s Day parade and festival scheduled for this Saturday is being canceled due to novel coronavirus concerns.

But parade organizers vowed to reschedule it for later this year.

Linda Dyer Hart, organizer of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Charlotte Go Green Festival, said Thursday afternoon the 24th annual event is being called off under advice of the city of Charlotte.

Earlier Thursday , Hart said the parade was still on.

But then county officials said later that morning two people tested presumptive positive in Mecklenburg County for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and the decision was made to postpone the event.

Hart had just learned about the decision mid-afternoon Thursday and told the Observer she does not know yet when the event might be rescheduled.

Hart said she’s been fielding a flood of calls asking about it.

“It’s unfortunate with so many people involved,” she said of the hundreds of vendors and participants. The annual event typically draws thousands of people to uptown Charlotte.

Raleigh’s St. Patrick’s Day parade also was canceled.

A previous version of this story misstated Hart’s name.

This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 3:24 PM.