Cooper-young Festival canceled amid pandemic
Less than two months after announcing that the Cooper-young Festival would be postponed, the annual Midtown event has been canceled amid a global pandemic that has made large gatherings dangerous.
“We are disappointed that we are not able to host our beloved Festival on October 31, 2020 as we had moved it back from the normal September date at the recommendations of City officials earlier this Spring,” Executive Director Tamara Cook said in a statement Thursday. “The health and safety of our Festival community and Memphis residents is and has always been paramount to us.”
Cook said the cancellation of the event means more to the neighborhood than the loss of a good time.
“We thought it was going to be a fun, fun Halloween,” she said. “It’s really sad for us because it’s our only fundraiser for the year. We just sunk all that money – $115,000 into crosswalks and then the very next year, $55,000 on Skycop cameras. Financially, the infrastructure of Cooper-young needs that event.”
Cook said proceeds from the festival pay for street banners, website fees, maintenance of the Ginkgo trees and the gazebo, operations of the Cooper Young Business Association, annual donations to local churches and other expenses.
“Without this event, all that goes away,” she said.
While Cook said the cancellation is unfortunate, without the funds it brings in, she said she’s most worried about what local businesses will lose now that the crowds that usually flock to the businesses won’t be coming this year as owners are already struggling with losses.
She said it will important for residents to support local businesses to make sure they are able to survive the pandemic.
“Don’t buy books from Amazon. Buy them from Burke’s,” Cook said. “Don’t buy your tennis shoes from Walmart. Buy them at Grivet’s. There are so many ways that people can help small business owners.”
The Cooper-young Festival is the latest in a series of similar events to be canceled in recent weeks.
Memphis in May events were canceled last month after organizers initially pushed the event to the fall. The annual Germantown Festival was also canceled last month.
The Cooper-young Festival expects to return next year. The date for the festival has been set for Sept. 11, 2021.
Desiree Stennett covers economic development and business at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at desiree.stennett@commercialappeal.com, 901-529-2738 or on Twitter: @desi_stennett.