The summer of COVID-19: less to do in Michiana and a cloudy outlook for festivals, fairs

SOUTH BEND — It has become the refrain for Summer 2020: All of this is subject to change.

Even as Indiana begins to reopen under Gov. Eric Holcomb’s “Back on Track” plan, many of the festivals, fairs and other major events of summer remain in limbo.

“Everything, right now, is up in the air,” St. Joseph County 4-H Fair Board President Jim Caldwell said. “We’re planning every which way, because the time table is really tight.”

Some of the area’s largest, highest-profile annual events already have been canceled outright — the Leeper Park Art Fair, the Elkhart Jazz Festival and the Urban Adventure Games, among them.

As a hybrid solution, the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival has postponed its Professional Company and Touring Company productions of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Two Noble Kinsmen,” respectively, to summer 2021 but plans to move its community productions online this summer.

And, as per Holcomb’s orders, parades aren’t permitted in Indiana until July 4.

Asked whether Mishawaka will have alternatives to its now-canceled Memorial Day parade, organizer Kris Frazier said, “Right now, everyone is in a holding pattern.”

In South Bend, organizers of the Westside Memorial Day Parade hope to still do the honorary renaming of Ford Street for a day and hold some Facebook activities to honor veterans and memories, parade committee member Jan Kowalski said.

Randy Leliaert, who typically chairs Osceola’s Memorial Day parade, has asked the town council’s approval for a “Patriot Cruise of Support” to honor front-line medical providers. The public would be invited to line up, then cruise their vehicles down a closed-off section of Lincoln Way with signs and flags. People could watch by parking along the route, but they’d have to stay in or by their cars, with 6 feet of distancing.

County fairs

Many of the county fairs across Indiana are waiting for a decision May 15 by Purdue University about whether it will permit in-person fairs. Purdue currently bans all in-person activities through June. And its Purdue Extension governs 4-H activities in the state.

Based on Holcomb’s timetable for phasing in largescale gatherings, the 95th annual St. Joseph County 4-H Fair will open July 4, a day later than originally planned, and continue through July 11, Caldwell said.

If it does open without the 4-H component, he said, it would still have the midway rides, commercial vendors, food vendors and local bands that make up the other attractions at the fair — along with hand sanitizer stations, the wiping down of rides and social distancing protocols.

“If we can have it, it’ll be a lot of fun for folks,” Caldwell said. “No doubt, this fair will be different than previous fairs. But we also won’t open the gates if it can’t be safe.”

Purdue, he said, has plans for how to still involve the kids in 4-H even if they can’t be there in person.

“For the kids, in particular, they worked so hard on their projects,” Caldwell said. “The fair is a celebration of the 4-Hers, their accomplishments. … They fully intend to make things right with the 4-Hers, the kids, including the auction of the livestock animals.”

The Marshall County 4-H Fair, scheduled for July 18-24, is looking at its alternatives, including something virtual or a postponement, Purdue’s 4-H youth development educator for the county, Kelsey Guadarrama, said.

The Marshall County fair used to include a carnival but left it out last year and doesn’t have plans for it this year for financial reasons, she said.

Like the St. Joseph County fair, the Elkhart County 4-H Fair could move ahead with a fair even if Purdue Extension nixes the 4-H components. There’s a carnival, entertainment and open shows within the fair, for all ages, that aren’t 4-H, marketing coordinator Jeremy D’Angelo said.

But, he emphasized, “We don’t want to make a decision prematurely.”

Organizers won’t decide to cancel, postpone or move ahead with the fair until June 1, D’Angelo said. For now, they’ll monitor the progress of Holcomb’s phased-in reopening of the state and see if, at that point, they’re legally allowed to hold a fair.

The LaPorte County Fair’s website indicates the fair remains scheduled for July 12-18, including with a concert July 16 by Toby Keith.

In Michigan, organizers of the Cass County Fair and the Berrien County Youth Fair say that, if they do postpone or cancel, they’ll decide that 30 to 45 days prior to their events.

Neither is governed by 4-H, which is overseen in the state by Michigan State University.

“At this point, we’re moving forward,” Manager Karen Klug said of the Berrien County Youth Fair, marking its 75th anniversary on Aug. 17-22, with a carnival, circus, country music’s Oak Ridge Boys and other entertainment. “We know things will be different this year. I’m sure social distancing won’t go away. I have no idea what it’s going to be like in three months. Every time the governor speaks, we get a different idea.”

As a backup, she said state and international fair organizations are providing information about what virtual events could look like, where kids could still exhibit their animals — an option Cass fair organizers are researching, too.

“We want to provide something for the kids,” Klug said. “We want to showcase what they’ve been working on all year long. That’s our first-and-foremost.”

The economic impact

If the St. Joseph County fair doesn’t take place, Caldwell said, it will have a ripple effect in lost income for the fair, local businesses and the off-duty police officers it hires for security.

“There are countless jobs that are effected by whether or not we have a fair,” he said. “There’s a tremendous number of small businesses that get commercial space. … They rely on the fair to drum up business.”

The fair itself, Caldwell said, is a not-for-profit organization and doesn’t receive any government money.

“Every rental at the fairgrounds going into August has been canceled," he said. "We don’t have any money coming in, and we’re in the hole.”

Beyond the fairs, with all live performances canceled since mid-March, the economic impact of canceled shows and festivals has yet to be calculated, but it will be massive.

This weekend’s Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, for example, usually results in 500 hotel room rentals per night, South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Rob DeCleene said. This year, the competition has been moved online.

“A 500-room event is very impactful,” he said. “It’s always that nice gap weekend, because it’s in the middle of commencement season but doesn’t cross over.”

Multiple shows at the Morris Performing Arts Center, for instance, have been canceled, including the entire PULSE FM Downtown Summer Series.

“We were on track to have our largest number of shows at the Morris ever,” Venues Parks & Arts Executive Director Aaron Perri said. “We’re now at over $2 million of refunded tickets since this started.”

Collectively, the Morris, the Palais Royale and Century Center, he said, generate $17 million in economic activity each year.

“When you don’t have people staying in the hotels and eating at restaurants, it could be inferred that economic activity is not occurring,” Perri said. “It’s devastating.”

VPA also has canceled the Michael Franti & Spearhead concert scheduled for July 24 at Howard Park.

Too soon to tell

For several other summer events, organizers hold onto hope that they’ll be able to present something in person — even if it’s modified — in July, August and September.

That includes many of Downtown South Bend Inc.’s numerous events, South Bend Venues Parks & Arts’ Best Week Ever, and the Michiana Renaissance Festival.

“We’re tracking all these other community events that help make Best Week Ever,” VPA’s Perri said about a possible postponement to August for the event, which had been scheduled for May 31-June 6.

“Of course, everything I’m going to say is subject to change," he said. "If there’s a change in the health statistics, things might have to get tightened up.”

If Best Week Ever does happen, he said, some changes will need to be made.

“You’ll want crowds spread out, and in my opinion, density makes events look exciting,” Perri said, “but a lot these things will have to look different for community gatherings.”

Weekly activities sponsored by VPA also are potentially lost for the year or will be delayed. If it opens for rafting, for example, the East Race will open later than it usually does.

“That one is more unique in that there’s quite a bit of sharing equipment — helmets, paddles, boats,” Perri said. “We’re researching if there’s a way to sanitize those quickly. And there are long lines of people.”

DTSB plans to resume its First Fridays events Aug. 7 and the Red Table Plaza Lunchtime Concert Series on Mondays through Thursdays from July 6 to Aug. 31.

“We want to make sure anything we do, we want to, No. 1, control the environment, and No. 2, have the people’s confidence,” DTSB Executive Director Milt Lee said. “If we can have some smaller, micro events, we’ll look at things we can collaborate on with our partners in downtown.”

The Riverlights Music Festival had been scheduled for June 5-6 in South Bend’s Howard Park as part of Best Week Ever. Organizers haven’t officially canceled it yet, but they haven’t rescheduled it, either.

“We still have plans to try to do something later in the year that would be some sort of support of South Bend musicians,” Executive Director Matt Teters said. “It could be a one-day event where the proceeds go to local musicians.”

With its move to Howard Park and lineup of 30 bands, Riverlights had been poised to break out as a significant event in South Bend in its fourth year. Its first year, it drew 1,500 people; in 2019, it drew 12,000.

“We were expecting 20,000 or 25,000 at Howard Park,” Teters said. “We had great momentum. We felt this was the year we would turn the corner on sponsorships and show South Bend we’re bringing something of value to the community.”

The Mishawaka Parks Department typically hosts a big Independence Day celebration with several family activities and fireworks at Central Park, now pegged on its Facebook page for July 4, along with a return of the popular “Slide the Hill” Aug. 15 at George Wilson Park. It typically has had a summer concert series at Battell Park and at other sites with stages, such as Central Park.

“To be honest, it is very early in the process to determine what will be able to run or not run,” Mishawaka Parks Superintendent Phil Blasko said. “A lot of factors will be going into each event/program: crowd control, social distancing, budget, etc. ... Internally, we have an idea for what we would love to see still run but don’t feel comfortable predicting that far out.”

Moving forward

Amid all the uncertainty that events face, some remain as scheduled, and almost all of them take place in August or later.

Those include DTSB’s Art Beat, the Osceola Bluegrass Festival, The Barns at Nappanee (formerly the Amish Acres Arts & Crafts Festival) and the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County’s Performing Arts Series, although with only five events instead of its usual six this year.

“We’re going to play it by ear when it comes to the month of July,” DTSB’s Lee said, “but we are laser-focused on Art Beat in August.”

Organizers still plan to hold the Marshall County Blueberry Festival from Sept. 4-7 while following Holcomb’s guidelines for reopening the state, Karen D. Oneal, with the festival, said.

The Community Foundation, spokeswoman Laura Moran Walton said, decided to hold its series this year to celebrate the community’s “resilience” in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The arts are so good at bringing people together,” she said. “It’s that idea that as a community we are still enjoying the talent of our fellow community members, celebrating it and enjoying it. We’re trying to find some joy in what has been a very difficult situation.”

Niles Scream Park Manager Pete Karlowicz said he’s already purchased a 54-gallon drum of hand sanitizer for the park, which will be open Sept. 11-Nov. 7. He also has purchased a touch-less thermometer to check the temperatures of individual visitors and is looking into a thermal camera that, apparently, can scan a line of people for high temperatures, among other measures.

Other than that, Karlowicz said, the park must continue to plan to open on schedule because a year-round operation can’t wait to make provisions until the final month.

With its start date of Aug. 1 and location in Potawatomi Park, Moran Walton said, the Community Foundation’s series provides “the perfect opportunity for people to dip their toes back into public performances” in the safe environment of the outdoors.

“I’m really looking forward to hearing live applause again,” she said. “No Zoom delays, no digital distortion — just the sound of heartfelt, real-time appreciation from people who are happy to be together, experiencing the arts.”

Canceled

Niles Family Fun Fair & Bluegrass/Americana Music Fest; Niles Renaissance Faire; St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church’s Greek Fest; Leeper Park Art Fair; Elkhart Jazz Festival; Meet Me on the Island for June and July; Arts in Bloom Garden Walk; most of Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival; Underground Railroad Days; Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff; Dowagiac Summer in the City; Urban Adventure Games; Pokagon Band of Potawatomi’s Memorial Day weekend Pow Wow and Labor Day weekend Kee-Boon-Mein-Kaa Pow Wow; Rockin’ River Music Festival on Kamm Island; Potato Creek and Lions Strawberry Festival; Rhapsody Art and Music Festival; Shortcakes on the Blacktop; Fulton County Historical Power Show; Juneteenth Celebration; Unity Gardens’ Westside BBQ and Craft Festival; St. Jude Parish Festival.

Postponed or in limbo

Riverlights Music Festival; the June South Bend Record and CD Show; Concours d’Elegance at Copshaholm; Michiana Renaissance Festival; Sunburst Races; EnviroFest 2019; Marshall County 4-H Fair; Elkhart County 4-H Fair.

Still planned

• Community Foundation Performing Arts Series at Potawatomi Park: South Bend Civic Theatre with “Matilda,” Aug. 1; Southold Dance Theater, Aug. 8; The Jazz Ensemblage, Aug. 15; Vesper Chorale with the Children’s Choir of Michiana, Aug. 22; the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Aug. 29.

• First Fridays: Aug. 7, Sept. 4, Oct. 2, Nov. 6 and Dec. 4.

• Summer Fitness Series: Saturdays, July 4 through Aug. 29.

• Red Table Plaza Lunchtime Concert Series: Mondays through Thursdays, July 6 through Aug. 31

• Art Beat: Aug. 15.

• DTSB's Grown-up Movie Nights: September 25 (“Vacation”) and Dec. 12 (“Christmas Vacation”).

• The Barns at Nappanee (formerly the Amish Acres Arts & Crafts Festival), Aug. 6-9.

• Marshall County Blueberry Festival, Sept. 4-7.

• Osceola Bluegrass Festival, Aug. 16-18.

• Saints Peter and Paul Serbian Orthodox Church’s Annual Serb Fest, July 25.

• Niles Scream Park, Sept. 11-Nov. 7.

• Nappanee Apple Festival, Sept. 17-20.

• Four Flags Area Apple Festival, Oct. 1-4

• St. Joseph County Fair, July 3-11

• LaPorte County Fair, July 12-18

• Kosciusko County Fair, July 12-18

• Starke County 4-H Fair, July 11-17

• Cass County Fair, Aug. 2-8

• Berrien County Youth Fair, Aug. 17-22