SYRCL has made the difficult decision to postpone the in-person component of this year’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival due to concerns over community safety given the recent rampant spread of the Omicron variant and limited rural medical infrastructure.
The persistent power and internet outages due to recent storms has also played into the decision. Though many residents have had power restored, 10% of the county is still waiting for service to return. The SYRCL office had to close during the storm and many of the staff went over a week without power, making coordinating an event of this scale impossible; the office is still without internet and many of our staff members’ homes are still without power.
“With Nevada County in a state of emergency and COVID rates rising, we felt postponing the in-person Fest was the most responsible thing to do so as not to burden the County’s infrastructure with our event,” said Melinda Booth, SYRCL’s Executive Director. The online component will run as scheduled January 13 through 23.
“We are so grateful to the community and all of our sponsors for helping us get to where we are and will miss seeing people in person next week,” said Booth. “Once we determine it is safe to hold the in-person component, we will announce the dates.”
Those who have already purchased tickets have the option of exchanging their in-person tickets for virtual passes or receiving a credit for the postponed event.
For more information, updates, and online ticketing, please visit www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org
