In March 2020, the Town of Camp Verde canceled its annual Pecan & Wine Festival, normally one of the fixtures of the town’s calendar of events.
It was one of the very first casualties of the shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which led to the town canceling numerous other events over the course of the next year, including Corn Fest and the annual Christmas parade.
As the COVID-19 pandemic’s presence in Arizona approaches its first anniversary, the town is hoping to bring back the Pecan & Wine Festival, although instead of its usual place in mid-March, the 2021 Pecan & Wine Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 17 and 18.
“The third weekend in April still allows us great weather and also some additional time for the COVID situation to improve,” Camp Verde Parks & Recreation Manager Michael Marshall said. “It gives us additional time to do the planning.”
The event will be held on Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18 in downtown Camp Verde, in the field next to Camp Verde Town Hall on Hollamon St. The town expects at least 8 local wineries to join the event, along with pecans from local farms for pairing, a Pecan Pie contest, a Budweiser Beer Garden hosted by the Verde Valley Rangers, food trucks, live music and local artisans.
Marshall said that the town is hoping to take advantage of some of the lessons that they learned putting on Fort Verde Days in October, one of the few usual events that did occur this year. The lessons included setting up hand washing and sanitizer stations, as well as holding the event on a larger area of land than normal, allowing guests to spread out and socially distance. Marshall also expects that the event may include fewer vendors, and be marketed less heavily than in previous years.
“There’s still going to be people I’m sure not comfortable coming to the event. I’m sure and that’s fine, but we’re going to feel comfortable putting on the event, and that’s our goal,” Marshall said.
Normally, the Pecan & Wine Festival coincides with the Verde River Runoff held by the Friends of the Verde River, but that event did not change its date along with Pecan & Wine, and was held virtually on March 20.
“One day we hope to have an in-person event again and continue our collaboration with the Pecan & Wine Festival,” Friends of the Verde River Stewardship & Development Manager Kegn Moorcroft wrote in an email.
Marshall expects that even without the participation of Friends of the Verde River, the festival will likely be popular after a year without events like it.
“We have a lot of interest from vendors even now,” Marshall said. “There’s definitely some pent up demand. There’s pent up demand on the public side wanting events. There’s pent up demand on the vendor side.”
