Salina City Commissioners Monday evening discussed the possibility of cancelling the upcoming Smoky Hill River Festival.

The discussion was prompted  by new guidance from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. KDHE Secretary Dr. Lee Norman said in a release “given the increased transmission of the Delta variant across the state, we now consider attendance at mass gatherings in state to be high risk situations”.

Anyone unvaccinated who attends an in-state or out-of-state mass gathering of 500 or more where individuals do not socially distance and wear a mask should follow quarantine guidelines.

As of now, those who attend and are unvaccinated would need to quarantine.

The length of quarantine varies depending on whether you have been tested for COVID-19.

• If you get tested , its negative and you have no symptoms, the quarantine period is 7 days.
• If you do not get tested, the quarantine period is 10 days provided you are symptom-free.

Those who are fully vaccinated are not required to quarantine unless they have tested positive for the virus. In this case, the quarantine is 7 days.

Salina Arts and Humanities Executive Director Brad Anderson spoke. He said all appropriate precautions will be taken. He indicated none of the vendors, nor the talent, have expressed interest in not coming. In fact it has been the opposite, with some reaching out to encourage the event to not be cancelled.

The city commission expressed no interest in cancelling the event.

Those attending the festival will be asked to be responsible, to social distance and wear a mask when appropriate. .

The 45th Anniversary Smoky Hill River Festival is Labor Day Weekend, September 2nd thru 5th in Oakdale Park.