LEWISTON, Idaho – Three events associated with the annual Dogwood Festival of the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley that were rescheduled for later this summer have now officially been cancelled.
The 36th annual Art Under the Elms, the 30th annual Confluence Grape & Grain, and the annual Dogwood Show and Shine will not be held this year. All events were originally scheduled for April but were postponed because of the crowd gathering guidelines created by the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.
The three-day Art Under the Elms artesian fair and the Show and Shine were rescheduled for the end of July while Grape & Grain was rescheduled for August, but because of challenges created by the pandemic for Lewis-Clark State College, officials have decided to not to hold the events this year.
“The precarious nature of the health and safety standards due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the future uncertainty of the virus caused organizers to be concerned, since each event takes a lot of staff time and investment in order to provide a quality experience for event goers and the artisan vendors," said Debi Fitzgerald, Center for Arts & History and Continuing Education director. "Events of similar size and function around the PNW are also being cancelled – many throughout the early autumn months. Grape & Grain has attendance of over 275 – with a lot of eating and drinking and up-close interactions. AUE has an average attendance of 14,000, and while it is held outside, the safety regulations for distancing and hygienic maintenance would be difficult to manage. As for next year, we are planning for the events to be on schedule and quite manageable. Plans and discussions are underway.”