Festivals and concerts still iffy for this fall Organizers wondering about permits
Each September, the Cooper-young Festival brings about 130,000 people into the Midtown neighborhood. But before organizers can welcome the crowds this summer, the city must approve an event permit by June 10.
Normally, that’s an easy box to check on the long list of things Executive Director Tamara Cook has to do to prepare for the festival.
In the middle of a global pandemic, however, Cook said it seems unlikely that such a permit could be approved within the next six weeks, even as city and county officials prepare for a phased reopening to begin Monday.
Restaurants, retailers and some sports facilities and gyms could soon resume business if social distancing precautions are taken, according to the phased reopening plan.
But restrictions built into phase one of the plan prohibit other things like festivals, recreational activities and salon services. In some cases, the prohibition will last only a few additional weeks. In other cases, it stretches into the foreseeable future.
Six weeks into the plan, most activities with groups larger than 50 people are still outlawed.
That makes planning difficult for Cook, who can’t say for sure if she will be able to host the festival as planned on Sept. 19. “I can’t do anything until I have a date,” she said. James Holt,
president and CEO of Memphis in May, will also need the city to approve a series of permits if the new dates for the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest — Sept. 30-Oct. 3 — and the Beale Street Music Festival — Oct. 16-18 — will hold.
He, however, said he is not expecting any issues with getting permit approvals for an event, even a large-scale one, still four months away.
An opaque future
Annual event planners are not the
only ones looking to understand how they fit into the reopening plan.
For many spaces where social distancing is difficult and gathering in large groups is commonplace, leaders are waiting for more than just a green light from city officials. At the Orpheum Theatre, enough of the country would have to reopen so touring shows can plan enough stops to make a trip to Memphis — or anywhere — viable, CEO Brett Batterson said.
Levitt Shell would need enough of the world open to begin booking international artists, Executive Director Natalie Wilson said.
And even when tour planning isn’t the issue, there are other concerns to juggle. Soulsville’s nonprofit indoor climbing studio Memphis Rox must remain closed at least until the third phase of the reopening plan. Even after that, its leaders will have their own phased reopening, slowly allowing climbers back into the gym while working not to become a hot spot for coronavirus spread in a vulnerable community.
“The community that we serve in South Memphis, (ZIP code) 38106, is a high-risk community when it comes to issues like heart disease and diabetes,” said Zack Rogers, director of administration for Memphis Rox.
Health department officials have found that most Shelby County residents who died after contracting the coronavirus had heart health issues.
“The 43 deaths show 78% of our fatalities have a cardiac co-morbidity underlying,” David Sweat, chief of epidemiology at the Shelby County Health Department, said last week. “Most of those persons had heart disease, congestive heart failure or high blood pressure.” Sweat went on to say that the 24% of those who died after contracting the coronavirus also had diabetes. Respiratory conditions like asthma and obesity were also prevalent in the fatal cases.
“When we make our considerations as an organization, we’re not just looking at government guidelines,” Rogers said. “We’re paying very close attention to the needs of the community that we’re located in because in no way do we want to be a part of adding to the hurt of the neighborhood. We want to be there to serve.”
While they remain closed, the team at Memphis Rox is trying to plan ways to build social distancing and frequent cleaning into their operations so climbers can be safe when they return.
‘Our stage is dark indefinitely’
Only the first three phases of the city and county reopening plan have been revealed.
While most entertainment and performance venues will remain closed through phase three, “gatherings of more than 50 persons may be allowable if supported by the characteristics of the space and a clear social distancing plan,” the reopening framework states.
Outdoor amphitheater Levitt Shell is in no rush to reopen if it can’t be done safely, Wilson said.
“The most healthy decision for me right now is to say that our stage is dark indefinitely,” Wilson said.
Instead, Levitt Shell has been focusing on virtual entertainment, drawing thousands of viewers from all over the world to its broadcasts of archival recordings of past concerts.
“As far as gathering live together, we don’t know when that’s going to be,” Wilson said. “Even if we can’t program one concert this year, we know we’re doing it for the betterment of our community.
“We’re willing to stay dark as long as we need to, but I want to put out there that the minute we come back, we will be part of the city’s hope. We were built in the Great Depression in 1936. We were built to build morale . ... We rose during a major crisis in our country. We know we’ll rise again as a beacon of hope.”
Festival plans offer ‘more questions than answers’
With the future of the Cooper-young Festival uncertain, Cook said she is already considering an alternative date in late October. That would give her an extra month to get a permit approved.
Corporate sponsors have started to trickle in, but most businesses are waiting to see the full economic damage caused by the coronavirus shutdown before committing, she said.
Without the complexity of national and international tour scheduling, Cook has also been able to secure some of the local bands to play at the festival. Bookings stopped after about half the stages were filled.
She is also accepting booth applications from Cooper-young businesses that are along the festival route but lowered the cost of space rental and isn’t requiring payment until August. By then, a permit decision will have been made.
That means most of the arrangements that could have been spread over the year —coordinating with police and fire departments, ordering credit card machines, stages and golf carts, designing T-shirts and posters — will be condensed into three months.
“It’s just a waiting game for us right now,” Cook said. “A world of things need to happen . ... We’re just waiting.”
Holt said planning for Memphis in May is continuing despite the uncertainty of what the next few months could bring. Still, he expects plenty of challenges and changes along the way.
“Quite honestly, there are more questions than answers at this point,” Holt said. “We’re moving forward with the plans for the fall with the complete understanding that ... how the virus develops or how the virus retreats during that time frame is going to impact our procedures or process and even our ability to stage the event.”