During the initial straw vote on whether or not to hold the Malad Valley Welsh Festival in June 2021, all Executive Committee members voted in favor of holding the Festival or at least most Festival events.  Committee members cited current trends in Idaho, Utah, and Oneida County that indicate the prevalence of the COVID-19 virus is decreasing and that people are wanting to return to normal life.

However, Chair Jean Thomas had collected data from the Southeastern Idaho Health Department, the State of Idaho Health Department, and from local Oneida County experts, including Hospital Administrator John Williams, Dr. Robert Hodson, and Dr. James Pickett.  After Jean presented the data, the Committee regretfully but unanimously voted to cancel the Welsh Festival for another year. 

The following data were cited:

1) Idaho is still in Stage 3 of reopening and has never reached Stage 4. In Stage 3, groups of no more than 50 people are allowed and only with social distancing. Most Festival events held outdoors would be no problem. However, the popular indoor events, including presentations, concerts, and poetry readings, all attract more than 50 attendees.

2) Oneida County was the last county in Southeastern Idaho to move back to “Moderate” risk from “High Risk.” Although the trends in Oneida County are certainly in the right direction, any virus-spreading event could result in major problems for the small city health care system.

3) Concerns expressed by the doctors are the following:

          a.)Variants of the virus could cause a surge at any time. The effectiveness of the vaccines against                      variants is unknown.

          b) Enforcing the wearing of masks and social distancing at the Festival would be difficult, if not                         impossible.

          c) Not enough people in Oneida County will have been vaccinated to provide herd immunity by the                end of June.

          d) Rules about mask wearing, social distancing, and vaccinations are different in other states and                       cities, so there would be no way of determining the health of attendees.

4) Holding the Festival this year could result in the risk of legal liability for the Church, City, and Festival should someone prove that the virus  was contracted at the Festival.

5) Nobody wants the Festival to be the reason for a surge in cases in Oneida County; we don’t want to be responsible for a “virus super-spreader event.”

6) If indoor events were held, a large number of people would have to be recruited to constantly disinfect doors, pews, pianos, and bathrooms.

7) Getting an exemption from the Southeastern Idaho Public Health Department would be nearly impossible for the Festival due to the variety of events, lack of process for checking people in and out, and the low number of available volunteers.

While it may seem early to make this decision, performers, presenters, vendors, advertisers, and attendees need to make plans early enough that alternative plans can be made.

The Welsh Festival Executive Committee regrets having to make this decision for the second year.  We hope to expand our website and presence on other social media to keep the Festival alive until next year.