News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville’s Fall Fun Fest and Wine on the Westside have been cancelled.
CityScape Executive Director Holly Freeman said cancelling two of the biggest Upper Cumberland events was not easy. The Board of Directors discussed the decision for the past month.
“It was a very difficult simply because we know how important these events are to our community,” Freeman said. “We certainly enjoy hosting them. It has been over 25 years that we have hosted Fall Fun Fest.”
Freeman said the board felt the events were too large to host even in a modified way. The financial impact of the cancellations also played a role in the decision.
“At the same time, we would be welcoming people to sign up for vendors on Westside,” Freeman said. “Mid-summer, already well into this time, we would have been selling Wine on Westside tickets. The cash flow is a situation we had to take into consideration.”
Freeman said the CityScape organization will be just fine.
“CityScape has several different revenue streams,” Freeman said. “Our operating budget really comes from our membership base. We have a large membership push at the beginning of the year, but unfortunately, with the Covid situation starting in March, the membership is down about 60 percent.”
CityScape is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to preserve and enhance the historic downtown areas of Cookeville, Tennessee. Cookeville is an accredited Tennessee Main Street community. Freeman said the organization is still focusing on keeping Cookeville’s downtown area alive.
“In May, they launched a Covid recovery program called Main Street Forward,” Freeman said. “It has a tremendous amount of resources and articles. It is really a linked community of all these main street markets, so our local business can get ideas and be encourages.”
Freeman said the Tennessee Main Street Program is proposing a $100 million Covid recovery plan. $75 million would go to training and keeping main street coordinators employed. $25 million would go to aid for small businesses.
Wine on the WestSide was scheduled August 15 and Fall FunFest was scheduled September 11-12.
