Scuppernong River Festival canceled for this year

Published 3:45 pm Wednesday, June 3, 2020

: Downtown Columbia was crowded during the Scuppernong River Festival on Oct. 12, 2019. This photo shows Main Street, with vendors' and exhibitors' booths along the left side, and Broad Street (at right) where food vendors congregated. Ty Fleming drone photo

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Organizers have announced cancellation of the 2020 Scuppernong River Festival, citing uncertainties and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a press release, festival planners were faced with “immediate deadlines and cash expenditures without a clear picture of what the fall may bring in terms of personal and vendor distancing, limits on event attendance, requirements to frequently sanitize children’s rides and amusements, port-o-johns, eating and other public areas.”

Additionally, organizers were faced with decisions that would cost money if the event had to be postponed or canceled closer to the scheduled festival date, October 10.

“This is a disappointment to the planning committee,” stated festival co-chairman and Columbia town manager Rhett White. “We will begin looking at the 2021 festival and planning to make it bigger and better than ever.”

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Committee co-chair responsibilities are handled by White and Tyrrell County manager David Clegg.

Those serving on the committee include Penny Owens, Ruth Spencer, Ann Brickhouse, Nicole Roughton, Ellen Bell, Sara Phelps, Helen Craddock, Dee Furlough, Darryl Liverman, Sara Watts, Michelle Clower, George Haislip, Howard Phillips and Travis Simpson.

The Scuppernong River Festival has been held in October of each year since 1992, except for 2016 when Hurricane Matthew arrived on the eve of the festival and left the town under several inches of floodwater.

For information, call 252-796-2781.

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