SHERIDAN (WNE) — The Longmire Foundation has canceled in-person activities for the ninth annual Longmire Days in favor of a virtual event, scheduled for August.

In past years, the event has brought as many as 10,000 visitors to Buffalo, who spend around $2 million each year.

“We’re finalizing our virtual schedule right now,” said Jennifer McCormick, who planned the event for the past several years with the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, and now does so with the Longmire Foundation. “Now that we’re in our ninth year, we know what to do to put together an event for 10,000 people. With the virtual event, we didn’t have a clue what we could do.”

The virtual event will include question and answer sessions and an online auction. It will include items from the Longmire set and Craig Johnson’s new book, “Next to Last Stand,” which is the 16th novel in the Walt Longmire series. The book will be released in September.

The event will also include guest appearances from Longmire actors like John Bishop, who played Bob Barnes on the six-season television series.

“We didn’t think he would make it in person before the pandemic, because he will be touring in England. But he will do a mini-concert for us,” McCormick said. “It was difficult getting started, but we knew we’d be making the transition to a virtual event in June.”

Meseret Tegenu, communications and program manager for the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, said that she’s glad the foundation, which took over planning Longmire Days this year, is doing a virtual event.

“We’re thankful that they are doing it virtually, and we are glad they decided to do something instead of cancelling altogether,” Tegenu said. “People are still wanting their Longmire fix.”