To my Flagstaff Blues family, it breaks my heart to be typing this newsletter today. Due to the continued impact of the pandemic, the Flagstaff Blues and Brews Festival will very unfortunately be cancelled for a second year but come back better than ever in June 2022.
I have been meeting with the City of Flagstaff and following the guidance of the Governor. As of today, there is an executive order that there are no events allowing over 50 people within the state of Arizona. On Tuesday of last week, the Flagstaff City Council increased our number of people at events from 10 people to 30 people. This does not go into effect until April 1st. I don’t see how our City would go from 30 people to thousands of people by the time our event is to take place in early June. I am at the mercy of the State and the City. I need a permit from the City to hold the festival and the Police Department to sign off on a liquor license, and finally I need the liquor Department to approve that license.
Some will ask if I can just move the date of the festival. And while that seems like an easy thing to do, I assure you it is not. First, I have a date specific contract with the venue and there is no guarantee if I were to move the event to the fall that I would be able to hold it then.
Our festival is amazing because of all of you! I don’t want to be “policing” you to stay in your circle 6 feet away from people. No one wants to see a concert that way. You want to dance and enjoy each other. I want that too! So event a socially distanced event is not appealing to me, and I would think it’s not appealing to you either.
This was not an easy decision for me, as this is my livelihood and to cancel for a second year is heartbreaking. I think you all know by now that I’m honest with you, I’m up front and I wear my heart on my sleeve. After many days and nights crying over this, I have decided to pull the trigger and make this extremely difficult decision. This event means the world to me but it’s also not the cheapest festival put on either. No great music festival is. I can’t continue to put my time, energy, and money into an event that deep down in my gut I don’t think I’d be allowed to have this year.
With that said, please be reassured that refunds will be given immediately to all ticket holders for the 2021 festival. Be on the lookout for these as they will come directly from Eventbrite.
The health and safety of our fans, staff, musicians, volunteers, sponsors, vendors, and finally the Flagstaff community, are always my top priority. I’m trying to stay positive, and I’m trying to find the good that may come out of this, so with that I’m focusing all my energy on ways to make 2022 incredible. And I promise you all it will be a festival to remember.
The dates for 2022 are set for June 10th and 11th.
This is not goodbye, this is just see you later. I want to thank everyone who’s reached out over the years and especially recently, with your support.
With much gratitude,
Jen
