With COVID on the rise, here are contingency plans for major Savannah festivals, museums, parades

Festivals

• Savannah Jazz Festival: Savannah Station; Sept. 23-26; savannahjazz.org

In 2020, the 39th annual Savannah Jazz Festival, branded as Savannah-Safe Jazz Festival, was livestreamed from Sept. 23 to 27 and was held in front of limited live audience in the North Garden at the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum. The Savannah Jazz Festival was set to be hosted live in Forsyth Park for the 40th annual festival, but the mayor revoked the permit for the event on Tuesday. Fortunately for everyone involved, they've always had a plan B in place.

"We are going to be doing an expanded version of what we did last year, but from Savannah Station. We will have more people allowed in to the live audience this year than we were allowed to have last year at Ships of the Sea. I'm not really sure what that number is yet, but folks can check our website and our two Facebook pages," Paula Fogarty, the interim executive director, said. "We will be opening up, like we did last year, raffle tickets for people to win a pair of tickets to a seating. We'll be having smaller pop up trios and quartets around the city."

• Savannah Music Festival (October season): savannahmusicfestival.org

The Savannah Music Festival is a nonprofit organization and is Georgia's largest musical arts event. Traditionally held in March/April, the 2020 Savannah Music Festival was canceled. For their 2021 spring season, performances took place on new dates from May 18 to 30 at two indoor venues with limited-capacity crowds and social distancing in place. While their next major festival isn't until 2022, the October season for SMF is approaching.

"We would work directly with the venues that we planned to use, and then also directly with our artists, and go from there," said Erin Tatum, interim executive director, should they need a contingency plan to a live festival.

• SCAD Film Festival: Various locations; Oct. 23-30; filmfest.scad.edu

The annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival is the largest university-run film festival in the world and celebrates the artistry from award-winning professionals, as well as student filmmakers. The festival took place in an all-virtual format in 2020 and plans to return live this year.

"SCAD is closely monitoring the latest local, state and federal guidelines regarding COVID-19. SCAD leadership is in constant communication with the city of Savannah and the mayor’s office.  As of now, we are looking forward to a successful, safe and spirited in-person and virtual event. We are identifying opportunities to move some of the events outdoors and the university is prepared to pivot based on any in-person restrictions," said Christina Routhier, executive director.

• Savannah Book Festival: Feb. 17-20, 2022; various locations; savannahbookfestival.org

The Savannah Book Festival brings nationally and regionally published authors to Savannah, giving book lovers the chance to see their favorite authors. The nonprofit is gearing up for an in-person festival for February 2022 after going virtual this year.

"While we are, at the time, planning for the in-person event, we are working on what contingency plans will be. Obviously, we have a little bit more of a wait. We're going to do what recommendations are from CDC, the City of Savannah and Georgia. We are aware and we are working on it," said Erika Dongre, executive director.

• Savannah VOICE Festival: various locations: Aug. 8-2; savannahvoicefestival.org

Although the ninth season of the Savannah Voice Festival has passed, the nonprofit hosts different events throughout the year.

"We are prepared to stream. We're going to do what we did before, which is we can't go live so we're gonna do the next best thing and do amazing segments," said Maria Zouves, executive director.

Museums

• Telfair Museums (Jepson Center, Telfair Academy, Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters); 207 W. York St., 121 Barnard St., 124 Abercorn St.; telfair.org

Telfair Museums, the oldest public art museum in the South, is comprised of the Jepson Center, Telfair Academy and Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters. The museums closed for nearly three months in 2020, from March until their reopening on June 26 with mask requirements and no-touch and low-touch protocols in place.

"We came back under the Savannah Safe Pledge with masks and social distancing, five days a week, and then earlier this year we went to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. six days a week at all our sites. We do plan to continue with that this fall and into next year, with the city’s public safety guidelines back in effect," said Jason Kendall, Telfair Museums' public relations manager.

• Savannah African Art Museum: 201 E. 37th St.; savannahafricanartmuseum.org

Savannah African Art Museum is a nonprofit institution focused on the introduction and education on the art and culture of West and Central Africa. After closing in March 2020, they reopened with limited hours on Oct. 7 after canceling their first planned reopening for July 8.

"We're just going to follow what the city recommends. If they require a shutdown, then we're going to follow suit with what the mayor suggests and what the city has put in place. We've got plenty of online resources for guests that want to come visit the museum, and should we be in a situation where we do have to go into another lockdown or reduce our hours or put a pause on everything, we have virtual engagements, from tours to workshops to family activities all online, and we'll just continue virtually until things open back up," said Billie Stultz, founding director and chief curator.

• Davenport House Museum: 324 E. State St.; davenporthousemuseum.org

The Davenport House Museum is one of Savannah's oldest historic houses open to the public. They began welcoming visitors back in June 2020 with safety measures and precautions.

"We have been keeping our groups small so are led tours are 10 or less, and we will keep that in place until we feel that there's some sort of safety with regard to larger numbers. It has been that way since January 2020," said Jamie Cradle, director of Davenport House Museum.

Parades

• Veterans Day Parade: Nov. 11; veteransofchathamcountyga.org

Traditionally held in Savannah, the annual Veterans Day Parade, held in honor of military veterans, was held in Port Wentworth in 2020 with smaller, socially-distanced crowds. Other socially-distanced ceremonies were also held around the city.

"We actually have two alternative locations that we've been speaking to municipalities about and have received good feedback so far: Pooler and Port Wentworth. Port Wentworth hosted it last year. They would love to host it again this year, but Pooler would like a chance to be able to host it, as well, so we're looking at both," said Joe Higgins, chair of Veterans Council of Chatham County.

Laura Nwogu is the quality of life reporter for Savannah Morning News. Contact her at lnwogu@gannett.com. Twitter: @lauranwogu_

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: With COVID on the rise, here are contingency plans for major Savannah festivals, museums, parades