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Park City arts fest status hinges on decisions this week

The Park City Kimball Arts Festival.
Park Record file photo

The leadership of the Kimball Art Center on Wednesday is scheduled to discuss the status of the Park City Kimball Arts Festival, less than two months before one of summertime’s major events is calendared on Main Street and amid continued worries about the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The governing board of the not-for-profit organization is set to meet midday. The meeting on Wednesday is scheduled one day before the Kimball Art Center is slotted to discuss the event with Mayor Andy Beerman and the Park City Council.

A Kimball Art Center spokesperson on Tuesday said the governing board is expected to cast a vote on the arts festival. The options are not known with certainty, but it seems likely the Kimball Art Center could be considering ideas like scaling back the event, canceling the festival or moving it to another locale.



The Kimball Arts Festival, scheduled from July 31 until Aug. 2, has remained one of Park City’s top events over the decades. It draws one of the largest three-day crowds of the year to the community as art lovers and others mass on Main Street to browse the artist booths and listen to live music.

The status of the Kimball Arts Festival and the Independence Day celebration are two of the last unknowns of the summer-tourism season after a series of cancellations that has included the Park Silly Sunday Market, the Tour of Utah bicycling race and the Big Stars, Bright Nights concert series.



Park City staffers drafted a report about the arts festival in anticipation of the meeting on Thursday, indicating the leadership of the Kimball Art Center “has an imminent decision on the future of the” event in 2020. The report says the Kimball Art Center, with support of City Hall staffers, has “explored several options not limited to cancelling, relocating, or modifying the event.” It says City Hall staffers are “supportive of an amended Festival with greater social distancing and likely lower attendance as a result of COVID-19.”

The report also indicates the Kimball Art Center is “interested in hosting the 2020 Festival on Main Street, and staff believes it can be held responsibly and safely.”

The Kimball Art Center “has been engaging with the Summit County Health Department on operational approaches to mitigate health concerns and respect social distancing requirements,” the report says.

The City Council meeting is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. It will be held remotely and will be broadcast on the municipal website, parkcity.org.

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