The Scranton Jazz Festival will not happen this year.
“I regret to inform you that, for a variety of reasons, the Scranton Jazz Festival has been officially cancelled for this August,” Executive Director Bob Shlesinger said in an email. “There are still too many questions that need to be answered, so the Board has decided to (err) on the side of caution and be safe rather than be sorry.”
The festival takes place annually around downtown Scranton and features performances by national and other acts.
“We will return next year with a renewed energy and determination to make 2021’s festival one of the best one’s ever,” Shlesinger added.
Shlesinger, who also runs Scranton Public Theatre, noted that that group’s programs — including a performance of a play about local Medal of Honor recipient Gino Merli at the statewide conference of the Department of Veterans Affairs — also have been postponed.
“I was truly looking forward to that,” Shlesinger explained. “We will do it next year.”
Caitlin Heaney West is the content editor for Access NEPA and oversees the Early Access blog in addition to working as a copy editor and staff writer for The Times-Tribune. An award-winning journalist, she is a summa cum laude graduate of Shippensburg University and also earned a master’s degree from Marywood University. Caitlin joined the Times-Shamrock family in 2009 and lives in Scranton. Contact: cwest@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5107; or @cheaneywest
