The festival, which is put on by the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce, is now scheduled for Oct. 17 and 18 at Lott Park in downtown Daphne.
The Daphne City Council voted Monday, Sept. 21 to authorize Mayor Dane Haygood to work with the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce to reschedule the event, which had been set for the following weekend.
“We did have to postpone the Jubilee Festival that was going to happen this weekend. In light of the storm and everything that’s going on, we were not going to be able to have our staff and be able to put that on, so look for that hopefully in the next month or so,” Council President Robin LeJeune said. “We’re really looking forward to being able to go and buy some artwork and just have normalcy back to our great city.”
The location of the festival was changed earlier this year from Main Street in Daphne to Lott Park to allow more space for social distancing in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, Festival Organizer Liz Thomson, said.
“Lott Park allows us to put 10 feet between each booth and open up walkways for guests,” Thompson said.
Chamber President Casey Williams said organizers have had to continue to adapt to changes, but the event will go on.
“We promised early on in the process we’d be nimble and creative to put on this festival with COVID-19 restrictions, we had no idea at that time just how creative we’d have to be,” Williams said.
She said the new date will give participants time to deal with the effects of Hurricane Sally.
“Our community was hit hard by Hurricane Sally and this move will give everyone a chance to regroup and take a breather,” Williams said. “From the beginning our goal has been to give the community, the artists and merchants something to look forward to and we think it’s even more important now that this festival continues to provide a sense of normalcy, community and good old fashion fun.”
The 32nd-annual festival will include 100 artist booths set up throughout Lott Park featuring everything from paintings to holiday wreaths and hand-forged knives.
A new feature this year will be the Virtual Artist Shop at www.thejubileefestival.com, which will allow people to browse each artist and link directly to their website where they sell items online. The site will allow individuals who do not want to go to the event to shop for artwork featured in the festival.
The Jubilee Market will return for a second year featuring local food makers. Much like a farmer’s market, these small businesses create their products themselves or highlight locally sourced produce, organizers said.
Children will have a chance to exercise their artistic talents with “Grab and Go Kids Art.” The kits will be distributed to children rather than have them take part in activities in crowded areas.
Anyone wanting more information about the event can go to the festival website at www.thejubileefestival.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/watch/jubileefestivaldaphne.
Who: Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce
What: 32nd Annual Jubilee Festival of Arts
NEW DATE: October 17 & 18, 2020, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
NEW 2020 LOCATION: Lott Park, 2000 Main Street, Daphne
Admission: Admission is Free
