Town hopes for Appalachian Trail festival despite COVID-19
February 7, 2021 GMT
DAMASCUS, Va. (AP) — Despite a COVID-19-related warning to stay off the Appalachian Trail, some leaders in this “Town of Many Trails” are still hoping to hold an annual three-day festival this spring.
“As it stands now, we are planning Trail Days as if it were going to happen in May,” Trail Days Chairwoman Susan Coleman told the Bristol Herald Courier.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s advisory for thru-hikers to stay off the 2190-mile-long (3524.46 kilometers) Appalachian Trail, which spans from Georgia to Maine, was issued in response to COVID-19 concerns. Trail Days, a popular festival that features a parade, auction, music and more, was canceled last May in Damascus, a small town of about 1,000 near Virginia’s border with Tennessee.