CANCELLATION OF THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY TUCSON FOLK FESTIVAL
(Effective March 12, 2020)
After much discussion, care and concern for our community, the Board of Directors of the Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association (TKMA) made the decision to cancel the 35th Anniversary Tucson Folk Festival scheduled for April 3-5, 2020, due to the known/unknown nature of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Now this cancellation is official through the City of Tucson.
Our festival currently draws 14,000 folks, we utilize over 250 volunteers, present over 160 music acts on six stages, including festival activities, as well as, a beer garden, food and arts & crafts vendors. We can confidently state that over half of our festival community are over the age of 60, and would be in the “vulnerable” category and may possibly be susceptible to this particular virus. Undoubtedly, there would be scenarios of “hands on” situations at our festival, even if festival volunteers wore gloves and used hand sanitizers, that may unknowingly promote a transfer of this virus. We want to do our part to slow down the rate of spreading the virus, and one step to achieve this action is to avoid crowds and cancel mass gatherings. We just didn’t want to contribute to the possibility of this happening to the public at our festival. Everyone’s health, welfare and well-being come first.
We have been in communication with our sponsors, community partners and headline performers, and are reaching out to the remaining folks involved in the festival to address and/or follow up on any ramifications of our cancellation. Updates of future TKMA events will be forthcoming.
No one knows how this current virus situation will affect our community. Please know we are so grateful for our community’s support and attendance at our events, and we embrace you all in thought as we move through this. And, we will move through this, dear friends, we will move through this.
Our Best to You All,
Your TKMA Board of Directors
(Tonight, just before this posting, Mayor Romero announcements pertaining to our type of event: (1) Out of an abundance of precaution, I am recommending that events with an expected attendance of at least 50 individuals be postponed, and (2) The City will not issue special event permits with an expected attendance of 50 persons or more. We wanted you to know the message of our intention.)
Official Statement from Mayor Romero
Regarding COVID-19 Prevention
March 12, 2020
Mayor Romero PR on COVID-19 Prevention