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08/11/2020 12:00 AMWith Connecticut’s phased reopening plan frozen and no indication state officials will be loosening restrictions in the immediate future, the town is canceling planned August concerts on the green for the first time in at least 29 years, according to Parks & Recreation Director Rick Maynard.
Additionally, the fireworks display that was moved from Fourth of July to Sept. 12 has also been canceled, according to Maynard, with the current restrictions on outdoor gatherings simply making these large events untenable.
“We never got to Phase 3. We’re still in Phase 2,” Maynard said. “The problem is, on our green, we could get 1,000 [to] 1,200 people there,” Maynard said. “And there’s really no way to control that.”
The town had initially canceled at least one concert on the green scheduled for the end of July, with the hope that state regulations might be loosened in time to put on the popular events this month, though that simply isn’t happening, Maynard said.
Health Director Dennis Johnson said he had no indication from state officials one way or another on a potential relaxing of restrictions, but said he understood the state was in a “holding pattern” right now.
On the other hand, the town re-started its smaller concert series down at Jacobs Beach this past Thursday after a similar event had caused worries about social distancing earlier in the summer, even though it didn’t draw crowds at a level that would infringe on the state guidelines.
Currently, the state allows a maximum of 500 people for outdoor gatherings with proper social distancing.
The beach show on Aug. 6, which featured local five-piece rock band Muddy Rudders, drew a slightly more subdued crowd of around 100 people.
Maynard said Beach & Recreation was bringing in extra staff and providing masks for concertgoers in the hope that the town could stave off any issues with people dancing and congregating too closely, which had marred the last beach concert.
Johnson said he would be sitting down with town officials following the concert to decide whether it would be wise to continue the series through August—potentially three more shows, Maynard said.
The next show, scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 13 at 5:30 p.m., was postponed to Thursday, Aug. 27 due to a scheduling conflict with the band, according to Recreation Supervisor Ellen Clow.
The next beach concert will go on as planned at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 20, featuring a band of medical doctors called Take Two and Call Me in the Morning—who, Maynard joked, will be expected to help encourage proper health practices during the show.
Because the town is the sponsor of the concert, Guilford officials are responsible to ensure COVID precautions are met, Johnson said, including social distancing and mask wearing.
A concert at the beach is much easier to police, with only one gate and limited parking, both Maynard and Johnson said.
But on the green, Johnson described the setting as a “mini-Woodstock,” with people flowing freely in and out from all sides, making it extremely difficult to count attendees or limit numbers.
There had not been any substantial conversations about moving those concerts to a more secure venue, Johnson said, partly due to the iconic nature and popularity of the green as a setting, and partly due to logistics around moving the event somewhere else, such as a sports field or the fairgrounds.
If the concerts were moved to a smaller venue, the town would be risking a scenario in which people try to cram themselves into a smaller area, with less room to spread out, even if there was a gate or staff tried to limit access.
“We’re kind of a victim of our success,” Maynard said. “We have good bands, they draw a big crowd.”
Maynard said it was frustrating and disappointing, saying it was the first time the town would not have summer concerts on the green during his 29 years working for Parks & Recreation.
“It’s an unusual year,” he said.
There is still an outside chance that if Governor Ned Lamont relaxes restrictions on outdoor gatherings sometime in September, the town could squeeze a few concerts in on the green during that month, according to Maynard, who said he has spoken to some of the bands who had been scheduled to play this summer about that possibility.
Maynard made it clear that being able to host larger gatherings was entirely out of the town’s control. Johnson said theoretically, the state could specifically relax outdoor gathering restrictions without moving the entire state forward into the next reopening phase.
As far as fireworks, Maynard said their popularity also makes a safe event impossible under current restrictions.
Some people have suggested requiring residents to park and stay in their cars to watch a fireworks display, but Maynard said that the town “know[s] that doesn’t happen” in practice.
“The only thing that’s going to make it go is if that 500 number is raised up,” Maynard said. “I have to make the assumption that we get the crowd we usually get.”