The 2020 Utah Arts Festival will be postponed until June 2021, according to a press release from the festival on Tuesday.
The festival had been “carefully monitoring local and national guidelines and recommendations for large-gatherings over the last couple of weeks,” which factored into the decision, according to the press release.
The Utah Arts Festival, which was scheduled to take place June 25-28 of this year, takes place in downtown Salt Lake City each year and typically brings in 70,000 attendees, according to the UAF website. The festival is the largest outdoor multi-disciplinary arts event in Utah.
Lisa Sewell, executive director of the Utah Arts Festival, stated in the press release that they had considered moving the festival to later in the summer or fall, but that it wasn’t “ as easy as it might seem.”
“The option was evaluated thoroughly, but ultimately uncertainty about availability of artists, vendors, partners and volunteers, as well as the developing situation with the COVID-19 pandemic raised more concerns than solutions,” Sewell said in the press release. “For that reason, we believe it is in the best interest of all involved to postpone the event to 2021.”
The release from the festival stated that they will be working to find ways to stay involved with the community, despite not having a physical festival in 2020. The Utah Arts Festival aims to “keep the festival vibes alive,” according to the press release, and will be making announcements about further plans in the near future.