Frisco Cancels Some Events, Tentatively Plans For Others This Summer During Coronavirus
FRISCO, Colo. (CBS4)- Resort towns in Colorado are eager get back to business but they are already making major changes to popular summer events not knowing how long the coronavirus pandemic will continue. Frisco town leaders just released their summer events plan through June 30.
According to town leaders, all plans for events throughout the summer will be continually re-evaluated based on health and safety considerations.
"In light of the ongoing uncertainty, and in the interest of the health of our mountain community and event participants, the Town of Frisco has made decisions around events with the understanding that the Town will need to continually re-evaluate events based on the direction from public health professionals. Many of Frisco's events are important fundraisers for local non-profits and are part of the fabric of this community. We want to respect the importance of these events to our economy and quality of life, but the health of our residents and visitors is our first priority. This revised events schedule will provide us all with some time to heal, regroup, and move forward an optimistic spirit towards the future," says Nora Gilbertson, Town of Frisco Events Manager.
*This is the current list of events and the changes and cancellations as of April 15.
Frisco Town Clean Up Day was originally scheduled for Saturday, May 16. This is a legacy event when Frisco residents have shown their commitment to community and volunteerism with exceptional generosity. Town Clean Up Day will now be a week-long event from Saturday, May 9 through Sunday, May 17. Clean up supplies will be made available for residents to pick up at self-serve locations in town so they can clean up their neighborhood or a favorite area on their own in order to support social distancing efforts. Participants will be asked to post photos of themselves cleaning Frisco on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter during that week with the #FriscoCleanUp hashtag to show community spirit and be eligible to win a gift certificate to local Frisco businesses.
Run the Rockies Road Half Marathon & 10k was scheduled for Saturday, June 6 and will be postponed to August or September, pending permit approvals. Staff had already been reconsidering a schedule move for this event in 2021 due to persistent issues with access to the Ten Mile Recreation Path below Copper during the early summer. This fast, fun, downhill course is a 44-year race tradition in Frisco, and after a few years of course changes, it had become apparent that the race needed a new home on the calendar. Staff is also considering a "no frills" option for this race to bring down registration prices and enable folks to participate on a smaller budget.
"We have decided to view this as an opportunity to make our events better and more accessible. It is our hope that we will find a great new home on the calendar for the 44-year-old Run the Rockies road race. We will be laser focused on health and safety during all of our events and ready to modify how we do things in order to meet those goals. We considered just cancelling our full event schedule, but felt that it will be more important than ever to come together as a community and do the things we are passionate about and that feed our souls," stated Frisco Recreation Programs Manager Linsey Joyce.
Rock the Dock, the opening celebration at the Frisco Bay Marina scheduled for June 6, will be cancelled for 2020, and the 13th annual Timberline Cruiser Regatta will be moved to Saturday, September 12, 2020.
The Mountain Goat Kids Trail Running Series has four races scheduled on June 16 & 30. The Town has decided to continue with these June races and move them to August if needed due to health and safety considerations, which will be continually evaluated.
The Colorado BBQ Challenge, which was scheduled for June 19 & 20, will be postponed to Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26. The Colorado BBQ Challenge is sanctioned by the Kansas City BBQ Society (KCBS), and staff worked in partnership with KCBS to reschedule and still honor this 27-year tradition. This is a legacy event, which is beloved by many locals, supports local non-profits each year, and provides significant economic impact. The Bacon Burner 6k race will be rescheduled to Saturday, September 26, as it is a part of the Colorado BBQ Challenge tradition.
In order to respect ongoing safety and health efforts, the Town will plan for a smaller BBQ Challenge by reducing the amount of vendors, while giving preference to Summit County vendors. This will allow booths to be more spread out to honor social distancing efforts. The Town will also present more local bands during the BBQ Challenge in order to support the local creative community. Staff will also eliminate close contact activities, such as face painting, balloon art, and kids' bouncy houses and reconsider event components such as the Whiskey Tour, the VIP thank you brunch, firefighter cook-off and chef demos. These new BBQ event dates will likely result in the cancellation of Fall Fest earlier in September (due to the similarity of these two food events), and the rescheduling of the Fall Locals' Party to an earlier weekend in September.
Concerts in the Park start on June 25 and stretch into August with nine concerts, and the Town has decided to proceed as planned with this schedule and remain flexible if conditions and restrictions make it advisable to postpone concerts later into the summer. Social distancing measures will be encouraged through signage and event layout with Main Street in front of the park available to concert goers.
More information about Frisco events may be found at TownofFrisco.com.
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