Cherry Festival Schedule Reduced

Officials with the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Mich., will cut two days off set-up and tear-down time for the event to compromise with the city’s concern over costs and imposing on city parks during the tourist season.

Photo: Jeff Mintline / MintyPics.com

The Machine Shop, Flint, Mich.

This year’s festival runs July 5-12 but contract guidelines allowed event staff to start setting up June 29, with July 15 the deadline to finish cleanup.

Festival officials volunteered to reduce the time frame to June 30 through July 14 under the city’s Open Space guidelines for festivals.

“We consider the eight days of the festival the best use of public property,” Travis Tkach, festival executive director, told the Travis City Record-Eagle mid-May. “We’re basically throwing a party and everybody has access to it. So it’s an opportunity for people to come down and enjoy the Open Space, but the set-up and tear-down does limit access to the property.

“We put a lot of thought and consideration into this until we pulled the trigger. We devised an operation plan our volunteers seem confident they can execute and I believe in my volunteers.”