The Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce has rescheduled its Fine Arts Festival to August and cancelled the June concerts in its Uniquely Thursday summer music series.
The Fine Arts Festival, held in Burlington Park in downtown Hinsdale has been rescheduled from June 6-7 to Aug. 15-16.
Although the governor’s stay at home order was extended only to May 30, chamber officials do not expect all activities to return to normal in June.
“There was no way we wanted to do (the art show) the first weekend in June,” said Claudia Thornton, the chamber’s marketing director.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has talked about opening businesses, parks and other venues in stages, so whether the art festival would be allowed to take place is questionable. In addition, some artists who are senior citizens or have health issues, no longer wanted to participate in the June festival, Thornton said.
The artists and the chamber also feared the public still would be cautious about gathering in large groups and attendance might be low at the art show.
Similar concerns caused the chamber to cancel or reschedule the three bands booked to perform in June at Hinsdale’s Uniquely Thursday summer concert series.
The concerts, which also are held in Burlington Park, were scheduled to run on Thursday evenings from June 11 to Aug. 13.
The chamber added an August date and was able to move the Semple Band show from June 11 to Aug. 20.
The Millennials, who were scheduled to perform June 18, instead will play July 30, which was an open date, Thornton said.
Thornton chose the new August weekend for the Fine Arts Festival by checking when other art shows were scheduled in the area, to avoid competing for artists and visitors.
She then emailed the 90 or so artists who had been accepted for Hinsdale’s June date and asked whether they still wanted a booth if the festival was moved to Aug. 15-16.
“About two-thirds said that would be acceptable,” Thornton said. Among the other third, some were already booked on that weekend and some said they decided not to do any shows this summer due to coronavirus concerns, she said.
The chamber, therefore, is accepting applications from additional artists who want to display and sell their work at the show. To apply or for more information, look at the Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce website.
Officials in other towns are making decisions currently about whether to reschedule planned summer concerts and activities.
“It’s a fluid situation,” Thornton said.
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