Coronavirus: Summer Arts Festival in Springfield canceled for first time in 54 years

The 2020 Summer Arts Festival in Springfield has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Courtesy photo Courtesy photo

The 2020 Summer Arts Festival in Springfield has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Courtesy photo Courtesy photo

The 2020 Summer Arts Festival has been canceled for the first time in the event’s 54-year history.

The Springfield Arts Council, which presents the event, announced on Tuesday that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and due to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s mass-gathering restrictions and social distancing recommendations, its board voted unanimously to cancel.

“It was a very difficult decision,” said Arts Council executive director Tim Rowe. “We closed our offices the second week in March and talked with our executive committee weekly. We kind of knew this might be on the horizon, weighed all the options. We realized we weren’t sure we could do so safely in the park.”

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Rowe said the organization waited as long as it could before announcing the cancellation. The six-week festival was set to open on June 10 and wrap up July 18 in Veterans Park.

An estimated 81,000 attended the 2019 festival, according to festival organizers.

There was still much to do including working with National Trail Parks and Recreation to do maintenance on the park and its buildings, hiring a 15-person crew and tech company, stocking concessions, recruiting volunteers and printing programs among the tasks.

There was also concern from the artists. Some were coming in from Canada, where the borders are closed, and some from the west coast, who faced difficulty with air travel.

“Their schedules are turned upside down too. Most of these groups come in because they are in a certain area of the country on tour. They don’t just book one show with us. They were very understanding of our situation,” said Rowe.

He added that some performers have canceled as many as 40-60 engagements over the coming months. The Arts Council is trying to reserve most of them for the 2021 festival, but many things are unclear at this point as work on each festival begins about 16 months out.

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Rowe said he and the board are still looking at how this could affect the Arts Council financially, although most of the sponsors are maintaining their support of the festival.

The cancellation means the Arts Council will miss out on sponsor revenue, pass the hat donations, concession sales and ad revenue. The festival costs around $400,000 to produce annually. Rowe was unsure exactly how much revenue the festival stands to lose in 2020 as some financial support continues to come in.

Glen Massie, transportation planner for Clark County-Springfield Transportation Coordinating Committee has partnered with the festival for at least the last five years.

TCC’s banner can be seen hanging above the festival stage each year. Although the agency advertises in print, online and television, Massie said the Arts Festival is the biggest opportunity to get its messaging about air quality and ride sharing in front of the largest audience of the year and to participates in the annual KidsFest, handing out bicycle helmets.

“We don’t have large groups of people we can be in front of and this is one of the treasures of our community, just an amazing size and diversity of people,” said Massie. “People get more aware of who we are and what we do there.

“We respect this decision to protect the community. We encourage people to continue to support the Arts Council through this.”

While there won’t be live acts in the park, the Arts Council is looking at doing some virtual shows to stream for local audiences. These may include event-themed shows such as the Jimmy Buffett-inspired Parrothead Party in the Park; a KidsFest with live entertainment and crafts; an original show written and performed by the Youth Arts Ambassadors; and a version of the BBQ & Brews event.

These are still early in the planning stage. Rowe said the staff is looking to work with local vendors and sponsors for possible specials to tie in with these.

“We’re trying to the best of our ability to provide a little of the feel you’d get with an event,” he said. “It could be like a lawn chair lounge. People could get their own drink choice and food, take their laptop into the backyard and have their own event while we supply the entertainment.”

The Arts Council’s Showtime Series is currently scheduled to open in October and there’s a Youth Arts Ambassadors show set for November, but Rowe said it’s premature to predict what may happen in coming months and will plan accordingly.

“Of course, we hope we can do these,” he said. “This festival began so people, regardless of income or entertainment taste, could get together. It’s one of the things our community values. We know what this means to Springfield.”

For updates on virtual shows or other Arts Council activities, go to www.springfieldartscouncil.org or check out the Springfield Arts Council on Facebook.

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