Exchange Place cancels fall festival

Published 12:55 pm Thursday, July 2, 2020

Because of the continuing health crisis due to the COVID-19 virus, the Exchange Place Steering Committee has voted to cancel the annual Fall Folk Arts Festival, which was set for September 26 and 27.

Under the guidelines set by the State of Tennessee, it was determined that it would have been very difficult to responsibly follow those regulations and still ensure that the public was able to safely interact with the vendors, enjoy the live music, and learn from the many historic and educational demonstrations that are always a part of this festival.

This would have been the 49thconsecutive year that Exchange Place would have hosted this festival. “We continue to be heartbroken that we are not able to welcome people to our beautiful and historic living history farm. We understand, however, that we have a moral obligation to be good citizens, and realize we must play our tiny part in trying to make sure that the residents of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia (plus any out-of-our-region visitors) stay healthy and avoid the ramifications of this terrible virus,” a spokesman said.

Nothing has been decided yet about two other scheduled events— Witches Wynd (October 23 and 24) and Christmas in the Country (December 5). When those decisions have been made, that information will be announced.