Blue Skies, Canada Day festivities, Lakes and Trails, all fall to COVID in 2020

Jeff Green | Apr 29, 2020

(Editors note - this article has been updated from the version published in The Frontenac News on April 30, to reflect the announcement by South Frontenac Township on April 30 that all Canada Day Festivities in the township have been cancelled for July 1, 2020.

The Blue Skies Music Festival,  the largest public event in the Frontenac County calendar, is able to fly under the radar at its wooded location in Clarendon most of the time, but it could not hide from COVID-19.

In a Zoom meeting on Saturday with more than 100 participants, the Blue Skies collective decided to cancel this year’s festival, the first time in the 48 year history of the event.

“We know that even though this is absolutely the best decision for the health and safety of our community, it is still difficult. We can clearly see that the slow return to some form of normalcy is not going to happen in time for us to safely hold the Blue Skies Festival this August long weekend,” said Dale Driver, general co-ordinator for the festival.

The decision was made at this time, before much of the work on ticket sales and site preparation would have started.

“We will meet at Blue Skies again, but not in 2020,” he said. “Cancelling now feels like the kindest response we can offer to the many folks who are touched by Blue Skies. There are tears and there is hope for the future.”

In addition to the festival, the Blue Skies Kid’s Arts Camp, which has been running for 20 years, and the three year old Adult Music Camp, both of which were scheduled to take place on the Blue Skies site before the festival, and were both sold out for 2020, have also been cancelled.

A virtual festival is in the planning stages, and will feature long-time festival emcee, Magoo.

Lakes and Trails

Also, on Monday of this week the decision was made to cancel the 4th annual Lakes and Trails Festival, which was scheduled for July 18 at the Point Park in Sydenham. 

“Given all the uncertainty, it was felt that we would not know if there would be time to plan a successful event, and either way, many might be uncomfortable about coming out,” said Ross Sutherland, one of the festival organisers. “We are looking at some smaller initiatives but they will need to be considered when the way forward becomes more clear.

The next festival will take place on July 17, 2021.

Canada Day in Harrowsmith

The Harrowsmith Social and Athletic Club announced last week that in 2020, Canada Day festivities will not be taking place at Centennial Park in Harrowsmith.

At this juncture, we have not heard whether Canada Day events in Sydenham, Sunbury, Sharbot Lake or Denbigh have been cancelled by their organising bodies. We will let readers know as soon as we find out.

In order for those events to take place, the parks need to be opened, which is being contemplated, and gatherings in excess of 250 people will need to be allowed by the end of June, which is increasingly unlikely based on recent pronouncements by the provincial government.