GRANTS PASS, Ore. – A major Southern Oregon event has been canceled for the second year in a row due to COVID-19.
Last year, the Boatnik festival was canceled due to complications during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Now, this year’s Boatnik saw a similar fate.
Organizers of the festival issued the following statement on May 7, 2021:
“First and foremost, we want to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors for their continued partnership, our community, and our supporters for your belief in the Active Club.
“We have been hopeful all year long that Boatnik 2021 would happen. Today, we must inform you that it will not happen. There was not a lack of effort or try from our membership to give this community an event that provides a beacon of normalcy. However, as large and as complex as our event is, we require permits to run components of Boatnik. We were not granted those permits this year, meaning no carnival, vendors, or parade due to the state’s COVID-19 outdoor gathering restrictions.
“Moving forward, the Active Club will perform a Memorial Day Ceremony and the Tom Rice Memorial Race will occur on Monday, May 31st. We will provide details as we approach the Memorial Day weekend. Finally, we will remain strong in our community, supporting youth activities, clubs, and organizations as we have done for more than 60 years. And we will be back in 2022 with a Boatnik that this community deserves.”
The annual festival would have been held in Riverside Park in Grants Pass over Memorial Day weekend.
For more information, visit https://www.boatnik.com/
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