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Keith Vandervort
ELY – “The real crusher was that Friday was so much fun,” said Adam Zins as he and his wife, Tanja, tried to untangle a wire shelving unit early Saturday morning from under a mangled tent. All around them, in the middle of Whiteside Park, was what remained of the Blueberry/Art Festival. “It looked like a war zone.”
A line of thunderstorms with damaging 70-mph winds driving torrential rains hit Ely at about 6:30 p.m. Friday night, just as the first leg of the three-day Blueberry/Art Festival was wrapping up.
The short but severe storm destroyed scores of arts vendors’ displays and tents, and uprooted big trees in the park, prompting Ely Chamber of Commerce officials late Friday to cancel the remainder of the 2021 festival.
Keith Vandervort
ELY - After a year on hiatus because of public health concerns due to the coronavirus pandemic, the community’s signature art and craft event, the Blueberry/Art Festival, is back for 2021, hosted by the Ely Chamber of Commerce.
The Blueberry/Art Festival begins on Friday, July 23 and runs through Sunday, July 25.
“This year’s festival will concentrate on arts, crafts, and food,” said Ely Chamber of Commerce Event Coordinator Ellen Cashman.
Public health guidelines for the COVID-19 pandemic led Chamber officials to downsize the festival this year. The 2021 Blueberry/Art Festival and Experience Ely Expo will be capped at a total of 220 vendors, down from a high of 300 vendors prior to 2019.
Keith Vandervort
ELY – Continuing public health guidelines are forcing Ely Chamber of Commerce officials to downsize the Blueberry/ Art Festival this year, and local nonprofits are not too excited about the new Experience Ely Expo format.
The Experience Ely Expo, designed to run in conjunction with the Chamber’s two main arts and crafts festivals, Blueberry/Art Festival in July and Harvest Moon Festival in September, was first announced in late 2019, but the new format was put on the shelf last year when the festivals were canceled because of COVID-19.
“We didn’t receive as many applications as we thought there would be,” said Chamber Executive Director Eva Sebesta. “I think last year, many of the nonprofits were hit very hard with any level of fundraising, especially if they didn’t have a membership base that paid dues or supported the organization in other ways.”