ANNA MARIA – Hosted by the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce, Bayfest 2021 is scheduled to take place Friday, Oct. 15 and Saturday, Oct. 16.
Barring any COVID-19 or weather-related complications, Bayfest will be staged on and along Pine Avenue in Anna Maria.
On Thursday, Aug. 12, the Anna Maria City Commission unanimously approved the Chamber’s special event permit and permit fee waiver request with the caveat that the special event permit could later be rescinded if necessary due to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases.
Chamber President Terri Kinder presented the special permit request, accompanied by Chamber Board of Directors Chairperson Bev Kilpatrick and Member Services Coordinator Laurie Micciche.
Kinder told the commission there’s a great deal of enthusiasm regarding this year’s Bayfest celebration. Kinder said Bayfest 2021 already has a record number of sponsors and between 50 and 60 arts and crafts vendors have already signed up and paid their entry fees.
“We’ve been having a huge response to Bayfest for this year. Vendors are excited,” she said.
Kinder noted Bayfest 2020 was canceled due to the COVID pandemic and Bayfest 2019 was held at The Center in a limited manner due to a tropical storm.
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, this year’s Bayfest will include a special kickoff event on Friday, Oct. 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. at City Pier Park. The kickoff will feature live music and food and beer vendors. The regular Bayfest activities will take place on Saturday, Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. and will include the traditional car show, live music, food and alcohol vendors, arts and crafts vendors and more.
Commissioner Jon Crane noted COVID-19 “is coming back with a vengeance” and he asked Kinder if the chamber was taking any specific COVID-related safety measures. After noting the two-day event will take place outside and there is no state or city mandate requiring masks, Kinder said, “What we intend to do is post signs to let attendees know masks are strongly recommended for the event. We reached out to Manatee County Department of Health and we now have 4,000 masks on hand that we can distribute.”
“Good. Thank you,” Crane said.
Mayor Dan Murphy said, “The one point we need to make clear – and we went through this the last time – is that if the COVID changes, the commission may revisit this permit. They may come back at some point in time and say we need to revisit this. I want to make sure we all understand that we’re not locked in. If things don’t make sense going forward, we’re going to have to do something about it. We can’t allow having a super spreader.”
“The Chamber agrees. We want to do what’s best,” Kinder said.
“I look forward to the event. We’re pleased to have you here and you always do an excellent job. It’s so organized. It’s a great event. It’s one that we hope we can keep here in our city and that you don’t take it anywhere else,” Murphy said.
“This is its home,” Kinder responded.
Commission Chair Carol Carter asked if some past issues regarding business entrances being impacted by Bayfest had been resolved.
“The last real Bayfest on the street was 2018. There were absolutely no problems at all. The businesses were very happy,” Kinder said, noting the festival layout was changed to negate the impact on business entrances.
