Carlisle weighs decision to allow Amani festival to occupy same day as Bluegrass on the Grass

However, not everyone is on board with that switch.

The Carlisle Borough Council tabled a motion to approve a special events application, street closure and lifted sidewalk ordinance that would allow the Amani festival to take place along West High Street and Pitt Street, during its June 8 meeting. The vote is now scheduled for the council’s July 5 workshop meeting.

Amani representatives announced the postponement of this year’s festival two days before the event originally was scheduled to take place. A post on the festival’s Facebook page pointed to a struggle to find help coordinating the event. 

“We thought we could handle it with a team of three, sometimes four,” Amani representatives said in the post. “We thought wrong and failed you all. We failed Carlisle and its people. We are now stuck. We understand your frustration and it is more than fair. We haven’t been the Amani you have all enjoyed and been a part of in the past. It hurts beyond words how much we regret not saying something sooner. We’re sorry for that. We truly are sorry.”

The post also said the event will now “combine” with the Bluegrass on the Grass Festival, an annual music festival at Dickinson College.

However Davis Tracy, Bluegrass on the Grass’ festival director, said at the council’s June 8 meeting that the two events are not merged.

“We are not partnered with any other festival, and we have not sought to do so,” he said.

Tracy said Dickinson College has held the bluegrass festival on the second Saturday of July for 28 years, but this wouldn’t be the first time the two events shared a day.

Rainy weather last year prompted the Amani festival, which is usually held in May, to reschedule for July on the same day as Bluegrass on the Grass.

“We know from last year that while it is possible for two festivals to occur on the same day, it’s a market challenge to anyone who wants to find a place to park and attend either event,” Tracy said. “The Carlisle community would benefit from two separate dates for festivals of the magnitude that the bluegrass festival and the Amani festival are.” 

He said Bluegrass on the Grass draws approximately 4,000 people, making it “quite a challenge” to find parking in the area when the event occurs on its own, without another festival on the same day.

Tracy said representation that the two festivals have been combined has led to confusion among vendors. 

“I’ve been contacted by vendors from the Amani festival, or who want to be a vendor there and asked, ‘Since the festival has merged with you, where should we set up because we are not receiving any responses with the Amani festival,'” he said. 

Food vendors were also dismayed that they missed out on the opportunity to participate in both festivals, instead having to choose between one or the other, when they happen at the same time, Tracy said. 

“The thought behind [the Amani] festival is great, I’m supportive of that,” Councilor Sean Crampsie said. “The optimist in me wants to … figure it out and make it work but I think we’re kind of constrained by our meeting schedules, which worries me. In a perfect world, I would love to see them come to us and offer another date.”

Amani representatives did not participate in the June 8 meeting, and Mayor Sean Shultz said the borough doesn’t yet know the ramifications of tabling the vote until just before the Amani festival could take place.

“It’s important for people when they have items on the agenda to make an effort to show up so their questions can be answered, so that’s a little frustrating this evening,” he said.

The Sentinel reached out to Amani festival representatives and did not receive a response.