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Coronavirus resistant: World’s Longest Yard Sale still lines roads

A crowd looks through items at the World's Longest Yard Sale, which stretches from Alabama to Michigan, at its southernmost point in Gadsden, Ala., on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. Promoters considered canceling the four-day sale because of the coronavirus pandemic but decided to go ahead with the event, now in its 34th year. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)
A crowd looks through items at the World's Longest Yard Sale, which stretches from Alabama to Michigan, at its southernmost point in Gadsden, Ala., on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. Promoters considered canceling the four-day sale because of the coronavirus pandemic but decided to go ahead with the event, now in its 34th year. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves) A crowd looks through items at the World's Longest Yard Sale, which stretches from Alabama to Michigan, at its southernmost point in Gadsden, Ala., on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. Promoters considered canceling the four-day sale because of the coronavirus pandemic but decided to go ahead with the event, now in its 34th year. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

By JAY REEVES / The Associated Press 5 min read

GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) – For decades, thousands of vendors have fanned out along roadsides from Alabama to Michigan each summer to haggle over the prices of old Coca-Cola bottles, clothes, toys, knives and more at The World’s Longest Yard Sale.

And though the coronavirus pandemic has canceled events around the globe, the six-state yard sale is happening this weekend for the 34th straight year.

Beginning Thursday and ending Sunday, thousands of people will mingle, chat and bargain across a 690-mile-long (1,110 kilometer) stretch of Middle America. Organizers say they might not get the usual crowd, estimated at 200,000 people, but they could.

“We feel like there’s a lot of pent-up demand,” said Hugh Stump III, executive director of tourism in Gadsden, at the southernmost end of the sale.

The crowd was predominantly older on the first day in Gadsden, and many people wore face masks and visibly tried to keep away from others. COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, can be particularly dangerous for the elderly and people with other health problems.