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he Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival was set for Oct 2 -4, 2020 in Oriental. This year would have been the 7th annual porch music festival.

And then, COVID-19 happened. The following press release came from the festival today:

ORIENTAL, NC – June 30, 2020 – By a unanimous vote, the board of directors of the Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival today canceled the 2020 festival.

“With deep regret, we made the difficult decision today to cancel the festival out of concerns that we could not keep the audience, our volunteers and the performers safe,” said Dottie Osmun, the president of the board and the festival’s director. “We also don’t expect it would be possible to follow the state’s rules on outdoor crowd sizes and social distancing.”

The festival, in its seventh year, had been scheduled for Oct. 2-4. The Grammy nominated Southern Louisiana swamp rock band, The Revelers, were scheduled to headline the festival, with another 19 bands lined up for several porches and the riverfront stage across from Lou Mac Park.

The board would like to thank everyone for their support of the annual festival. The board will investigate ways to “Keep the Music Alive” in the months ahead and to support musical groups that have been hit hard financially by the Covid-19 restrictions. You can do so now by contributing to the NC Artist Relief Fund at vaeraleigh.org/artist-relief-fund.

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Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival, Inc., is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization. Its purpose is to provide the region’s multi-cultural and racially diverse musical talent with support, promotion and performance venues and encourage development of roots music appreciation and skills in Pamlico County, in particular among its youth.

The festival receives support from many generous donors, and from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources and the National Endowment for the Arts. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Posted Tuesday June 30, 2020 by Keith N. Smith