No Rain Date For Canceled Peabody International Festival In 2023

PEABODY, MA — This year's Peabody International Festival appears to be a victim of the proverbial perfect storm.

Forecasts of heavy downpours and potentially severe weather forced the cancellation of the event that was planned to bring 65 food vendors, two stages of live music and three dozen artisans to downtown Peabody in what is annually billed as the largest block party on the North Shore, with no makeup date planned.

"This creates a significant public safety hazard, particularly given the size of the event and the number of electrical power sources needed for cooking equipment and musical entertainment on Main Street," Mayor Ted Bettencourt said in announcing the decision over the weekend. "The cancellation is even more disappointing because this year's calendar does not allow for a Festival rain date, meaning there be no International Festival in 2023."

It was later explained that there was no rain date planned this year "out of respect for the Jewish holiday days Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which are observed over the next two weekends."

The Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce encouraged residents and visitors to frequent one of the local businesses that had been planned as a food or artisan vendor on Sunday and in the coming days and weeks.

"There will no doubt be lots of people complaining that the Peabody International Festival was canceled but remember the committee working on the event for the past nine months are the last people who wanted to see it canceled," the Chamber said. "It's a difficult decision but done out of an abundance of caution and public safety."

"We all agreed to start work on next year's event, which we plan to make the biggest and best International Festival yet," Bettencourt said. "I am sorry to share this disappointing news and I hope everyone can understand my decision."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)