The Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce is currently in the planning stages to resume two of its most popular annual events this fall, with the awareness that the unpredictability of Covid-19 and related restrictions could alter some of those plans in the months to come.
Chamber staff have begun reaching out to vendors and other interested parties regarding the 2021 Taste of Morgan Hill festival and car show. “The jury is still out” on whether the event will proceed as scheduled for Sept. 25-26, but organizers are preparing now so they can adjust plans based on up-to-date social distancing and other requirements, Chamber CEO and President Brittney Sherman said.
If the Taste of Morgan Hill does occur as planned, Sherman said it would do so in accordance with all local, state and federal health guidelines. Social distancing might be a challenge because the chamber does not have the ability to limit attendance by fencing off the event’s venue—the public streets, sidewalks, parks, patios and parking lots of downtown Morgan Hill.
“Our hope is that we can hold the event with masks and social distancing in place, but NOT have to regulate attendance,” Sherman said in an email to the Times.
Chamber staff have researched annual festivals in nearby cities and found that most summertime events are canceled, postponed to the fall or modified from their pre-pandemic formats, Sherman added.
The 2021 Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras, which typically takes place Memorial Day weekend, has been canceled. The 2021 Gilroy Garlic Festival will be resurrected as a Gourmet Alley drive-thru, garlicky celebration dinner and golf tournament.
“With California planning to reopen the economy on June 15 and the widespread availability of the Covid-19 vaccination, we are very hopeful that we will be given the green light to have, at least, a modified version of a TOMH Festival the weekend of September 25-26,” says a May 5 email from chamber staff to past vendors of the Taste of Morgan Hill.
The 2019 Taste of Morgan Hill was the 30th annual festival, which in recent years has drawn upwards of 40,000-plus people to the downtown during the two-day event.
Friday Night Music Series starts in August
Plans are much more certain for the chamber’s popular Friday Night Music Series. The weekly live concert series has been postponed to begin in August, rather than its normal June opening date.
The chamber next week will release dates and the band lineup for the fall 2021 Friday Night Music Series, Sherman said. The shows will take place at their usual venue: the downtown amphitheater at the Community and Cultural Center.
“We DO have the ability to control attendance in the space and can easily implement social distancing, mask wearing, pre-registration, seating assignments, etc.,” Sherman said.
