ONEIDA — The Madison County Craft Festival has been a staple of the community and despite COVID, its made a return with safety in mind.
In the wake of the coronavirus, festivals, and shows of all kinds have been canceled, but the Madison County Craft Festival kept its doors open for its Sept. 12-13 event. The Madison County Historical Society wanted to have the festival but have it safely.
“This is the 56th year we’ve had this event,” MCHS Executive Director Sydney Loftus said. “We weighed all the important aspects of what’s been happening during this pandemic and thought about how we could this and do it safely..”
Besides being a major draw for people looking for something fun, the Madison County Craft Festival is a major fundraiser for the Madison County Historical Society. Loftus said the Madison County Historical Society Board of Trustees decided that the Festival could be held in a safe way if every COVID precaution was taken, just as the farmers’ market did.
At its peak, the Cottage Lawn Farmers’ Market saw more than 300 people enter the grounds in a single day. The Farmers’ Market ran every Tuesday for 16 weeks and made use of mandatory masks, social distancing, and sanitation stations. Loftus said the Cottage Lawn Farmers’ Market was a kind of “dry run” that let them demonstrate to the community that gatherings could still take place with COVID precautions in place.
These same precautions, as set forward by New York State, were utilized for the Festival. The Madison County Historical Society designed its guidelines based on advice from New York State. Loftus said people coming into the Festival were required to wear masks, had their temperature taken, and were asked a series of contact tracing questions to determine if they were at risk for COVID.
A 33% capacity was established, meaning only 533 people total could be on the Festival grounds at any given time. Madison County Historical Society Secretary Colleen Donahue said the number of people on the Festival Grounds was tracked by volunteers at the entrance and exit so they knew when to stop admitting people.
Vendors and artisans had been spaced out farther than usual this year and attendees were asked to wait in line and stay about six feet apart from each other.
Loftus said she was proud of the MCHS Board of Trustees work to put on the festival and do it in the safest way possible.
“The safety of our visitors, volunteers, and staff is our greatest concern,” she said. “We made sure this could be done during this pandemic and provide the people with the opportunity to come out and enjoy some of the things we’ve had to restrict during this time.”
A line of people stretching the block waited patiently for their chance to enter and within the first 20 minutes, around 130 people had entered the Festival grounds. While there were not as many artisans and crafters as years past, those there were happy for a chance to interact with the community.
Among them was Lakeland Winery in Syracuse. Owner Andrew Watkins and employee Christopher Chirinos had a stand set up, ready to offer free wine samples to patrons. Gloves and a mask were mandatory and all disposable wine sample cups were thrown away safely.
“This is the first event that’s been open for six months for [Lakeland Winery],” Watkins said. “All the street festivals have been closed down. We’re making 50% less than what we made last year. The only thing we have open now is the regional and online market.”
Watkins said he was shocked and amazed to hear the Craft Festival was still on for this year and happy to attend. “It’s a beautiful thing — like flowers opening in the spring,” he said.
Watkins said he’s not worried about the business and that they’re surviving but that’s it — they’re surviving. “We’re breaking even. We’re not thriving, that’s for sure.”
Annie Evans, owner of Gypsy Girl Wood Fired Pizza, said she was happy to see the Craft Festival was on. “I was surprised. Every other festival I had booked this year canceled,” she said. “This is the only larger festival that I’ve heard of that’s still going on.”
Susan Keating, owner of A Spin in Time, said she had been going to the Craft Festival for three years now and almost every other event she had this year was canceled. Keating said she’s more of a demonstrator than a seller, spinning yarn by hand using an old-fashioned spinning wheel that’s more than a century old.
“Events like this are important for artisans and crafters,” Keating said. “People get a chance to come out and see your craft. Without it, I’d be sitting in a living room doing it on my own.”
Keating said she and her friends have had no other shows to attend, so even just this one festival is important.
“We wouldn’t be holding this event if we didn’t feel we could make this work,” Loftus said. “This will be our history: how the Madison County Historical Society managed during the pandemic and held one of its events.”
Loftus said she was grateful to see so many people from the public from all over coming to support them. “It shows they care about us and the artisans,” she said.
And people not only care, they trust the Madison County Historical Society. Among those attending were John and Carrie Hunt, of Fayetteville. It had been years since they had been to the Madison County Craft Festival, but they were happy to see it still happening this year.
Both John and Carrie said they were in the age bracket where COVID-19 was a serious threat to their health. “We wouldn’t have come in if we didn’t think it was safe,” John said. “If we walked in here and saw it wasn’t being done safely, we wouldn’t come in.”
Carrie said she was surprised to see the Festival still on this year, but was happy with how they were doing it. “They’re keeping things safe,” she said. “And you know, I think outdoor events like this are fine. I’m still concerned about indoor events, however.”
“We’re delighted, it was a pleasant surprise,” John said. “And it’s wonderful to see a check-in and social distancing. It shows [how gatherings] can be possible and done safely.”
And both were eager for an event like this and happy to attend.
“This is a breath of fresh air,” John said.
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September 20, 2020 at 08:00PM
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