Trending
Morris
ELKINS -- Officials are still considering what to call the events that will be held in Elkins this fall now that the 84th Mountain State Forest Festival has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"(This fall's events) won't be the 84th Mountain State Forest Festival, mainly because we're not having a royal court and we won't have a queen," Robbie Morris, this year's MSFF director general, told The Inter-Mountain Tuesday.
"We don't want to get in the situation of having an 85th Mountain State Forest Festival with the 84th Queen Silvia… The 84th will be postponed until 2021."
Organizers will announce what activities will be held this fall as soon as possible, and are currently paying close attention as social distancing guidelines change and progress.
"We're still working on (a name)," Morris said. "We're probably going to use more of the moniker of 2020 rather than the 84th, but we're still working on what the festival would be called and marketing and things of that nature.
"Everyone is guessing at this point. There are those that believe that everything will be fine in October, there are those that believe we're still going to have significant social distancing… and there are some that think there will be some social distancing but we just don't know," he said.
"October is way too far off to accurately predict, especially as we're just starting the reopening process for businesses and trying to get life somewhat back to normal. If that goes really well, then we're optimistic that we'll have opportunities for festival events this fall."
MSFF officials announced last week that no royal court events, including the coronation, will be held this year due to the pandemic.
"Everything outside of the royal court is technically on the table at this point," Morris said Tuesday. "It doesn't mean we're going to do it and it doesn't mean that we're not going to do it. It just means that we are waiting until we have some more information and to see how things go here over the next couple of months."
Morris said many members of the royal court, including the 84th Maid Silvia, had been selected prior to last week's announcement. He noted these individuals will retain their positions for the 84th Forest Festival in 2021.
Morris will remain Director General for next year's MSFF, and all the 2020 MSFF assistant directors and the members of the Queen's Department will maintain their positions next year as well, he said.
"The Queen's dress, the minor court outfits, the princess dresses, all of those things would be taking place right now and to make those types of things and invest the money in them that the individuals do and the Forest Festival as an organization does, to then (cancel) just doesn't make a lot of sense," Morris said of the decision to not have any royal court events this year.
"There are so many unknowns about what's going to be allowed and what isn't that we just couldn't take a risk. It's not fair to the royal court participants to only have a quarter of a Forest Festival."
He stressed the main concern of the festival planners is public health and safety for the community overall.
"We want to bring the festival in because of the social aspect. People are, in general, really depressed about not being able to see friends and family and to do the things that we normally do," Morris said. "Festival is a great homecoming that brings everyone together and we enjoy ourselves as a community for that week so we want to be able to have it for that reason.
"Also, if small businesses and the economy overall ever needed the festival, they need it this year more than ever because a good chunk of businesses do well during the Forest Festival," he said.
"While all of these would be benefits, none of it trumps the health and safety of our community, and Randolph County has done really well, relatively speaking, during this COVID-19 outbreak so far. We wouldn't want to risk that so we're just going to wait and see what the future holds.
"You can't just flick a switch on some of these things a month or two out but the things that are still on the table are decisions that can be made a month or two out, so that's what we're doing," Morris said. "I don't know what's going to happen, let alone expect somebody else to know what's going to happen."