Facing the global uncertainty over COVID-19, organizers of the popular Yachats Celtic Music Festival are taking the temperature of public interest in the annual November event.
With an email to yachatsmusic@peak.org, anyone can express their plans — “definitely” want to attend, ”unsure”, or “absolutely not.”
“So far, the ones who say ‘Yes, we’re coming,’ far outnumber the others,” said music director Stephen Farish. “I think people are ready to cut loose and do something.”
But Polly Plumb Productions needs to sell out the main night of the event if it is to avoid losing money.
“There’s no way we can hold the festival unless we can fill the hall at the Commons,” Farish said of the three-day event, scheduled for Nov. 13-15. And the hall can’t be filled unless social distancing guidelines are lifted by then.
In the meantime, the Polly Plumb board, which oversees the festival and several other Yachats cultural events, is “maintaining a holding pattern” on the Celtic fest, according to the website yachatscelticmusicfestival.org.
While the festival has contracts with all the scheduled artists, Farish said, “There’s still a lot of ‘I don’t know’ going on.”
Five-star Celtic music performers from around the world, plus food, whiskey tastings and workshops, have made the festival a key attraction of the fall season in
Yachats. This year marks the event’s 20th anniversary.