The DMV heat wave challenges weekend festivals
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (DC News Now) — Organizers of weekend festivals in the DMV had decision to make on Friday: Go forward with their events or cancel them due to the excessive heat.
While most organizers said they will continue, others like the Alexandria Jazz Festival at Portside decided to cancel its jazz concert with heat expected Saturday to come close to 100 degrees.
“We haven’t seen this kind of heat in eight years,” said Patricia Washington, the president and CEO of Visit Alexandria, an organizer of the two-day event. “We really felt that this was the safest call for us.”
Heat wave impacts events across the DMV
With several days this week of temperatures in the low-to-mid 90s, heat warnings have been issued and have given pause to those who were putting together festivals this weekend.
“It’s really at a historic proportion,” she said of the heat. “So based on that, we made a call that we felt was the best call at this point.”
But two festivals – the Barbecue Battle and the Home Rule Music Festival in D.C. – are not planning to cancel the events despite the heat, organizers said.
Charvis Campbell, the executive producer of the Home Rule Musical Festival, said that organizers are all about keeping the public safe but, “just in case, we have people ready” to address heat-related issues.
“There’s a lot of shading at this venue where we are. We’re going to have a lot of tenting,” Campbell said. “Many of our sponsors including DC Water will be out here with free water with misting tents.”
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And if something were to go wrong, Campbell said there’s additional resources like a fire station across from the event.
“We are doing everything to make sure that people are hydrated,” Campbell said.
Meanwhile, the decision was difficult for the jazz fest organizers to cancel Saturday’s event but at least there will be music Friday evening from 6 to 9 p.m., Washington said.
“We thought it was in the best interest of our visitors and our staff and volunteers and participants,” she said.
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