One of Labor Day Weekend’s annual Hot Spots for Bluegrass fans on the west coast is the Strawberry Music Festival at Camp Mather just on the edge of Yosemite National Park.
Hot Spot has a new meaning for the festival this year. The Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors and Community Resource Agency has pulled the permit due to California’s RIM FIRE which reached the National Park yesterday.
While the park itself is not affected and remains open, the official word from the Board of Supervisors is:
“Due to the ongoing State of Emergency and the potential adverse effects of the wildfire on public health, safety and welfare, the County of Tuolumne cannot allow the Strawberry Music Festival to occur at the site as originally permitted on the dates of August 29 through September 2, 2013.”
Festival officials have been monitoring the Rim Fir closely for the last few days. The fire is located just west of the festival site and is moving eastward up the Tuolumne River Drainage and along Highway 120 to the east.
In the next 24 hours the fire is expected to continue up the Tuolumne River canyon, and continue its spread to the north and east.
While Yosemite remains open, the wildfire has caused the closure of a 4-mile stretch of State Route 120, one of three entrances into Yosemite on the west side, devastating areas that rely on tourism.
No word at this time about cancellation refunds or moving the festival to an alternative site.
Festival organizers are hopeful they will have more information early next week and will update their website and Facebook accordingly. Of course we’ll publish any and all updates as we learn of them here at Prescription Bluegrass.
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