West Side Nut Club Moving Forward 2020 Fall Festival Plans
As the COVID-19 pandemic made its way into the Tri-State forcing many businesses to close their doors to the public, and limiting the number of people who could gather in one place together, many people, myself included, wondered what the restrictions would mean for one of the largest public gatherings in the Tri-State — the annual West Side Nut Club Fall Festival. For the first time since the pandemic began, the organization addressed where things stand concerning the Franklin Street festival.
In post on Facebook last Friday, the non-profit says the current plan is for the 99th incarnation of the festival to happen as scheduled October 5th through the 10th. The brief statement also said they have been and will remain in regular contact with Mayor Lloyd Winnecke's Reopen Evansville Task Force, and will continue to monitor "state and national mandates."
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb's "Back on Track" plan for the state would allow for gatherings of 250 people of more as of July 4th assuming there are no setbacks in the number of cases in the state, meaning hospital facilities have the space to care for any new patients. Of course anything can happen between now and then that will require tweaking the plan, but so far things have been going according to plan with Phase 3 set to begin on Sunday.
If the things continue to trend in the right direction, it's unknown how the Fall Festival will look if it's able to go on as scheduled. Will we all have to wear masks as we walk up and down Franklin Street grabbing all our favorite foods? Will it even be possible to practice six feet of social distancing with thousands of people packed up and down the street? We'll just have to wait and see. I'll be more than happy to follow whatever guidelines I need to in order to get my pronto pup and walking taco.
[Source: West Side Nut Club on Facebook]