Will October be a lot less orange on the coast than usual? It’s time to ask whether Half Moon Bay can expect to host its usual pumpkin frivolity this fall in light of a global pandemic that many expect to return with a vengeance just in time for Halloween.
Coronavirus has upended nearly every aspect of our lives for more than two months now. Our schools are closed, businesses shuttered and we shy away from one another behind masks that do not hide fear that many of us are barely keeping in check. That said, there is good news when we sorely need it.
There has been a marked decrease in new cases and deaths associated with COVID-19 and a welcome increase in virus testing and our health care system’s ability to cope with it all. As a consequence, public health authorities are loosening the reins. Two weeks ago, the city of Half Moon Bay was talking about $1,000 fines for visitors on the beach; today, they are close to reopening the parking lots and welcoming beachgoers again.
That has many of us thinking about a return to our normal lives. Maybe not quite yet, but soon.
Like, in time for the fall festival season.
That is probably too much to hope for.
Earlier this month, Miramar Events posted on the social network Instagram, “… we’d like to make it clear … we are absolutely planning to hold the 2020 Safeway World Championship Weigh-off on Monday, Oct. 12, in Half Moon Bay as scheduled.” The post went on to suggest organizers could hold the weigh-off in a safe manner that wouldn’t violate any health standards. Coordinators reiterated that hope last week when we asked about the pumpkin events.
It’s easy to understand their optimism about the weigh-off. It usually draws a few hundred, mostly local folks on a Monday. It’s conceivable that it could be conducted without a crowd by people careful to maintain a distance from one another. It would be a welcome diversion in the midst of a long, trying year. The weigh-off is just good, clean fun and it doesn’t rely on a crowd.
The Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival — which occurs the following weekend and is one of the largest annual street fairs in the Bay Area — is another matter altogether. It is always chaotic, attracting tens of thousands of people who jam roads before crowding shoulder to shoulder on Main Street. It is the Coastside’s signature event and the most important fundraiser for dozens of local nonprofits. It is important to the very soul of a town that is known for little else across much of the region.
But likely not this year. While many aspects of life will return to something like normal before then, it’s hard to see how local civic leaders can see their way clear to encouraging a pumpkin-festival-sized crowd this year. There is virtually no chance of a vaccine before then. Screening the crowd for a virus that can be carried without symptoms isn’t feasible with current technology. No logistical magic would keep thousands of people sufficiently apart on a two-lane road through town.
Planners say they will make their decision soon. It’s time to plan for a different kind of October on the coast.
— Clay Lambert
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May 27, 2020 at 05:46AM
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Pumpkin fun may be squashed this year | Editorial | hmbreview.com - Half Moon Bay Review
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