Before running for your pitchforks and setting things ablaze, take the realistic route towards acknowledging why the Cincinnati Reds have once again cancelled this winter’s Redsfest. Typically held in either December or January to allow fans to interact with Reds players, prospects, coaches, and front office personnel, the early 2027 edition simply won’t happen this time around because the current Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire at the start of December.
Devoted Redsfest attendees from years past will also point out that it was cancelled twice before in recent years because the Cincinnati Convention Center – the home of Redsfest – was under renovation. That means that for the third time in the last four offseasons the major event will once again be simply skipped, cutting a key lifeline between fans and the organization when the organization itself seems once again already adrift.
But, if you can’t have the players around once the CBA goes kaput, you simply cannot put on Redsfest.
It’s a convenient cop-out, if not an obvious one that we all should’ve seen coming before the abrupt announcement. Still, it’s once again an indication that the sentiments and concerns so many of us have with the direction of the last-place club, it’s bottom-ranked farm system, and the established front office that continues to stay employed despite those results simply aren’t going to be factored into any decision making again this offseason.
The even is tentatively set to return in December 2027.
Let’s just hope this ‘offseason’ doesn’t end up lasting longer that usual, too.
