Cancellation of Whiskey Flat Days is yet another blow to Kern River Valley
For 64 years, it’s served as a barometer of the coming tourist season, a wintertime shot in the arm for businesses and employees in the picturesque Kern River Valley.
But this year, it’s not coming at all.
Organizers announced Monday that the 64th Annual Whiskey Flat Days and Wild West Daze Rodeo has been canceled — possibly for the first time in the event’s history.
“The Kernville Chamber of Commerce is sad to announce the cancellation of the 2021 Whiskey Flat Days Festival,” the chamber said in a news release. “The Board of Directors, office staff, and many others have been hard at work planning out this event for the last six months.”
The decision to cancel was made primarily because organizers were unable to obtain various county permits, said Cheryl Borthick, owner of Cheryl’s Diner in Kernville and past president of the Kernville Chamber of Commerce.
“We’ve been planning. We had the carnival ready to go,” Borthick said. “But it’s just beyond us this year.”
The event, which was projected to draw between 30,000 and 60,000 visitors, fills motel vacancies from Lake Isabella to Kernville, said Borthick, who has operated Cheryl’s Diner for more than 35 years.
Restaurants, bars, private campgrounds and retail markets typically do cash register-busting business during the annual event, which takes place over Presidents Day weekend.
“It helps the whole valley get through winter,” Borthick said. “Once you lose that business, you don’t ever get it back.”
Gary Ananian, who heads up the valley-based nonprofit Kern River Conservancy, said he understands the need for the cancellation, but is concerned nonetheless.
“It’s always a sad day when you have to cancel an event like Whiskey Flat Days, which is so important to the valley,” he said. “It’s an Old West festival a lot of people look forward to.”
For example, the Whiskey Flat Encampment, he said, is an encampment of Indians and cowboys. Visitors can walk through the camps and get an idea of what life may have like well over a century ago.
Like many commercial businesses in the Kern River Valley, nonprofit organizations like the Conservancy are also hurting as a result of COVID restrictions. And as the new year begins, no one knows when some level of normalcy will return.
“We rely on donations to operate,” Ananian said. “But our fundraisers were canceled for all of 2020.”
Jami Ward, a partner in two businesses in Kernville, was chosen as this year’s ceremonial Mayor of Whiskey Flat.
Ward said she’s trying to remain optimistic about the cancellation, but it’s not easy.
“For me, Whiskey Flat Days is the season kickoff, a projection of what we can expect in the year to come,” she said.
A partner in Rivernook Campground in Kernville, Ward began receiving cancellations for campsite reservations even before Monday’s announcement.
“People did the math,” she said. “They knew it was coming.”
Ward said she sees thousands of shoppers crowd into stores like Costco, where social distancing is often difficult and sometimes impossible — yet “mom and pop” businesses like restaurants and private campgrounds face more restrictions, even for outdoor activities.
“I always try to see the positive side,” she said. “Businesses up here in the valley, we really need to get creative.”
But she isn’t sure yet exactly what that means.
“This is very detrimental,” she said.
Despite the cancellation of Whiskey Flat Days, the local Chamber still has a few aces up its sleeve. For one, a virtual fundraising event is currently in the works.
Longtime valley resident Gregg De Santis said the loss of this year’s festival means one thing:
“It’s going to mean all of our local businesses will continue to struggle longer,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the wintertime spike in COVID-19 cases cannot be ignored,” De Santis said.
The cancellation was a reasonable step, he added, but he wonders if it’s possible to reschedule in the fall.
“It’s supposed to help us get through the winter,” said Borthick. “That’s the whole point.”
And it’s not just about business owners, she said. Many employees in the valley are hurting as well.
“I have 20 employees,” she said. “I just want there to be a job for every one of them.”