Will COVID force another season of canceled festivals?
From staff reports
Faced with spiking COVID-19 numbers in Empire’s 49630 zip code and throughout Michigan, Empire Asparagus Festival organizer Paul Skinner has decided that he will almost definitely postpone the 2021 festival. The Empire Asparagus Festival, which is typically held in mid-May, just as the asparagus crop shoots out of the ground, was also canceled in 2020.
“If circumstances improve, it’s possible that we could have a scaled-back event in mid-June,” Skinner told the Glen Arbor Sun.
Skinner made the decision after speaking earlier this week with Leelanau County emergency management officials. Michigan now has the highest rate of positive coronavirus tests in the nation after 15.4 percent of tests reported Tuesday were positive, Bridge Michigan reported. Michigan also has the second-highest rate of new infections per 100,000, trailing only New Jersey. Hospitalizations have doubled in less than two weeks.
Everyone in Michigan, age 16 and older, is now eligible to receive a vaccine. Governor Gretchen Whitmer had targeted April 5 to expand vaccinations, but the surge in cases prompted her to expedite the order, as Michigan experiences one of the worst outbreaks in the nation.
The Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department (BLDHD) reported 13 COVID-19 positive cases in Leelanau County on Thursday, March 25—the largest single-day tally since January 15. The BLDHD reported 33 cases in Leelanau over a 5-day period between March 20-25. Eleven of those 33 cases are people in their 50s, representing the largest age group. This past weekend the BLDHD reported a 16th COVID-19 death in Leelanau County, a man in his 50s.
Status of other festivals
The Manitou Music series, an initiative of the Glen Arbor Arts Center, has been canceled for 2021. So has the Lakeside Shakespeare Festival in nearby Frankfort.
Events that are still on for 2021—for now at least—include: the M22Challenge on June 12; Glen Arbor’s Running Bear Run on July 27, and the Cedar Polka Festival, scheduled for August 26-29, 2021.
Stay tuned as we updated this list.
