COVID-19 restrictions wiped out just about every event in Sedona last year, both big and small. Organizers are planning their returns cautiously.
One of the most popular annual events is Oktoberfest, hosted by Rotary Club of Sedona Red Rocks. Rotarian and biermaster Rick Wesselhoff said for now they’ve yet to make a decision if this year’s event will take place in October.
“Ultimately it will be up to our group to decide if we want to gamble on the event this year,” he said. “It’s a significant outlay of planning, time, and hard cost expenses — and I think the jury might be out on what to expect.
“As a fundraising event it’s hard to commit to all of this without a guaranteed outcome. So, as of this moment we’re not committed. If other events get greenlighted we can throw our manpower into gear quickly and we could host a successful event.”
Organizers from the Sedona Winefest are waiting to make a decision.
“I think about it practically every day,” said Sedona Mayor Sandy Moriarty, president of Sedona Fair Inc. “We will be meeting on May 1 to attempt to make a decision about Winefest 2021. I’m hoping that by that time we will have a better read on how the virus is trending, but until then, I believe there are too many uncertainties to try to predict much.”
Both Oktoberfest and Winefest have been held in October at Posse Grounds Park — a city-owned facility — for the last few years. Both were held at non-city locations prior.
At this time, Moriarty said in terms of COVID-19 numbers, she feels like “we may be in a trough which has not lasted long enough to be sure it will not go up again, especially since cases are rising nationwide.”
The trough between the two waves took close to two months to start rising again, and it has only leveled off since February.
The Sedona International Film Festival was already planning to have its annual event in June, moving it from its traditional late February slot. With Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision to repeal the requirement that events or gatherings be limited to 50 people comes a bit more optimism.
“The governor’s decision certainly has given us some hope that summer and fall events should be able to happen with the ability to have more attendees and start to get back to some sort of normalcy,” SIFF Creative Director Patrick Schweiss said. “However, what will really determine whether events can go on and the size of the crowds will be the status of the pandemic and where the COVID numbers are going.”
He said the optimism comes as so many people are getting vaccinated and as a result, they are seeing a steady increase in people attending films at Mary D. Fisher Theatre.
“We just don’t want to jump the gun too soon,” Schweiss said. “We are moving forward slowly, steadily and cautiously and expanding our numbers on a slow roll-out basis. First and foremost is the health and safety of our patrons, supporters, volunteers and film festival team. So yes, we are excited to have the opportunity to have more attendees, yet we are always mindful of what we need to do to keep everyone healthy and safe.”
