In-person Arts Fest, Heritage Days canceled for second straight year due to COVID-19 concerns
For the second year in a row, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts will not be held in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The board of directors announced the “difficult decision” in a Thursday press release. Though vaccine rollout and eased restrictions have created hope for traditional events, the health and safety of others remain the first priority, the board said in a release.
After considering changing the date, moving the location or scaling the event down, the board decided to hold Arts Fest virtually in early July.
“This was an even more difficult decision to make this year than it was last year in the early days of the pandemic,” Renata S. Engel, CPFA board president, said in a written statement. “The fact is that as exceptional as our staff and volunteers are, our ability to produce an event of this scale with all of the uncertainty that remains about the pandemic is not possible this year.”
Arts Fest is the anchor event of a week that includes Heritage Days in Philipsburg, which will also not be held, and the People’s Choice Festival in Boalsburg. People’s Choice Festival organizers have not publicly announced plans for the summer event.
“We have heard from so many of you how important the festival is to our community and that you want it to return to the streets of State College an on our Penn State campus, and we want that too,” Engel said. “We’re committed to making that happen in the future and creating a virtual festival this year.”
First Night State College, which is produced by the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, is still expected to be held in person in December 2021 with ice sculptures, concerts, live performances and other family-centered activities.
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 10:46 AM.
