News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
August’s total solar eclipse has officials preparing for crowds, but they don’t have an idea of how many.
Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Visitor Development Zach Ledbetter said the event is so rare, officials don’t really know what to expect.
“I mean, it has been 500 years since a total solar eclipse has taken place in this community, now you’ve had some partials and whatnot but not a total solar eclipse,” Ledbetter said.
The Upper Cumberland is familiar with large events, but planners can usually get an idea of the crowd size.
“So we don’t really know, we do know that our hotels are pretty much at 100 percent occupancy and sold out for the Sunday night before Monday, then you have higher occupancy for Saturday and Monday on the shoulders of the eclipse as well,” Ledbetter said.
The total solar eclipse will take place at about 1:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21. The Upper Cumberland is in the “path of totality” for the eclipse. Cookeville will experience about two and a half minutes of darkness.
