No Concerts, Parades: RI Coronavirus Cancels Large Summer Events

PROVIDENCE, RI — Large summer events, a vital part of Rhode Island's summer tourist season, cannot happen as usual this year, Gov. Gina Raimondo said Wednesday. Gatherings are expected to be limited to 50 people or fewer for the majority of the summer, she said, making large events like the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals or even large weddings impossible, she said.

"The question that I am getting a lot of getting, a lot, every single day, is 'Hey Governor, what about large public events?'" Raimondo said. "You are not going to be able to have that event in the state of Rhode Island this summer with [that many] people in person. That is a killer announcement to make. My stomach is in a knot."

When it comes to weddings, the governor said couples should expect to be limited to 50 people or fewer throughout June and July, the height of wedding season.

"If you are planning a summer wedding in June, in July, of greater than 50 people it is not likely you are going to be able to have that wedding in person, this summer," she said. "There is a slight possibility when we get to August we might be able to lift the limit of social gatherings to 100 people ... But I can't promise you that now."

While a difficult decision, Raimondo said she has no other choice, and chose to make the announcement now to allow for advance planning.

"Concerts cannot happen, festivals cannot happen, events cannot happen ... it's just not safe," she said.

At the same time, the organizers of the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals, which draw thousands to the state each summer, announced that the events will not be held this year.

"If you can donate your ticket back, if you've already purchased it, that would be good," Raimondo said of the music festivals. "I will look at all of our tourism industry to see what we can do to help."

Raimondo said she knows that many seasonal businesses rely on traffic from these events and that many, especially on Block Island, hire most of their employees from other countries and house them in congregate settings for the summer. While this is normally a fine setup, she said, it could pose a risk this summer. To help the tourism and hospitality industries survive, she said she will use some of the state's coronavirus stimulus money from the federal government to offer financial assistance.

While the decision to prohibit large events was not an easy one, Raimondo said, she said it was absolutely necessary, since the risks outweigh the benefits, adding that she never again wants to be forced to completely close down the economy and hopes to get kids back into schools by September. Even with social distancing measures in place, it's very difficult to prevent close contact when hundreds of people are together, she said.

"The consequences of getting it wrong are too terrible," she said.

On Monday, the governor said she plans to discuss more industry-specific guidelines for reopening, which will allow business owners to begin planning how they will reopen. The timeline of when each phase of reopening will happen depends on how well each goes, Raimondo said, and cannot be predicted at this time. Factors such as a reliable treatment and/or vaccines will be "game changers," she added.

"We're going to have to take it a week or a month at a time," she said.

Despite the bleak outlook for summer presented Wednesday, Raimondo said she knows Rhode Islanders will make the best of it. On Friday, she is expected to outline the plan to reopen parks, beaches and other public spaces.

"I want to have a good summer as much as everyone," Raimondo said. "We're going to have a fun summer. We're going to find ways to go to the beach and do all that fun stuff."

She also said that there could be the possibility of "very, very scaled-down" versions of popular events like the Bristol Fourth of July Parade, which traditionally draws around 100,000 people.

"We're going to have to get creative," she said.

Earlier this month, the parade's planning committee said the annual event, the longest continual celebration in the country, would be seriously scaled back this year. More updates are expected in the coming weeks.

If all goes well in the next few weeks, the state will be able to start reopening after the stay-at-home order expires on May 8. Until then, all Rhode Islanders must continue to stay at home and avoid public gatherings, even as the weather continues to improve and people get stir-crazy.

"Hang in there with me, buckle down just a bit longer, because it is the right thing to do for you, your family and the state of Rhode Island, because we're all anxious to get back to work," Raimondo said. "We are about to get into a phase of the virus containtment when there are going to be a lot of changes, a lot of new rules, as we get into the new normal of how we're going to live our lives."

Patch Editor Scott Souza contributed to this report.

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