Festival at Sandpoint cancels 2020 season
(Courtesy photo) A photo of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra at a past Festival at Sandpoint Grand Finale. The Festival at Sandpoint board of directors announced Monday that the summer concert series was being postponed to summer 2021.
SANDPOINT — The Festival at Sandpoint, in consultation with local health officials, music industry experts, and the Festival at Sandpoint’s Board of Directors, announced Monday that the 2020 Festival will be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This summer would have marked the Festival’s 38th summer concert series, which is now rescheduled for August 2021.
“It is with heavy hearts that we have made a difficult, but what we feel to be the most responsible decision to postpone the 2020 Festival at Sandpoint season in light of the COVID-19 pandemic,” The Festival at Sandpoint’s Interim Executive Director Ali Baranski said in a statement released by the Festival board of directors on Monday.
While Sandpoint is a small, tight-knit community, Festival officials said that over half of the Festival at Sandpoint’s concertgoers come from across the country and even internationally as well as around the region.
“We know that a global pandemic does not stop at the Long Bridge and it would be irresponsible to gather 30,000 people this summer over the course of our two-week event,” Baranski said in a press release. “To prioritize the health and safety of our community, fans, musicians, volunteers, and staff, we are postponing the 2020 Festival and cannot wait to gather again and put on our best Festival yet in 2021. We look forward to rescheduling many of our amazing and exciting artists we had booked for 2020.”