The show will not go on.
The latest casualty of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is the Oak Harbor Music Festival, which was cancelled Thursday afternoon.
The event was scheduled for September 4-6.
Through seven previous go-rounds, the festival, which started in 2013, raised $35,000 for scholarships, which was divvied out between 27 graduating seniors.
Held in Oak Harbor’s downtown, the event pulled in musical talent from across the nation, while also giving a spotlight to local artists.
The festival featured more than 30 acts, while also providing space for food vendors, arts and crafts booths, sidewalk cafés, and a beer garden.
The following statement was released by the festival board:
In sadness for today, but filled with great hope and love for the future, we announce the cancellation of the 2020 Music Festival.
We have no doubt that when we return on Labor Day weekend in 2021 for our ninth annual event, our town will once again swell with the joy and celebration that is an end-of-summer touchstone for our friends and neighbors here on Whidbey Island and for our guests from across the Northwest and beyond.
In these uncertain times, our greatest concern is for the health and safety of the musicians, volunteers, vendors, our generous sponsors, and guests who pack SE Pioneer Way each year.
Three days of free music bring us close, elbow-to-elbow and heart-to-heart with each other. We cannot imagine a socially-distanced Oak Harbor Music Festival.
We are humbled by the way our community members — our local businesses and friends and public servants, City and County — have wrapped their arms around this festival.
You have volunteered countless hours every year; you have donated and sponsored this event; you all have had our back every step of the way.
We truly believe that, together, all of us have made Oak Harbor a better place.
Between now and 2021, we will keep our community informed as we heal and recover from this crisis.
We will honor and build on relationships and commitments already established with our supporters and partners.
And as always we will devote our energy faithfully to our mission: to inspire the community with the power of music.
With love and gratitude,
Cynthia Mason
Oak Harbor Music Festival President
& the OHMF Board of Directors
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