Rhody carnival finds temporary home

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The Rhody Fest carnival found a temporary home at Memorial Field for one more year, after the festival planners had searched all year for alternatives.

The Board of County Commissioners voted two to one Monday morning to approve the use of the field contingent upon good weather and that the festival board would have a backup plan for poor weather.

The commissioners’ regular business meeting was a packed house, with 40 chairs full. Many of the attendees came to speak in support of having the carnival at Memorial Field. Others, however, spoke in support of finding a different location.

“I use the field to play sports and as a ref for high school games,” said Joost Besijn. “I’m all for sharing the field. The issue is that it really does irreparable damage.”

The Funtastic Carnival has been hosted at Memorial Field in past years, and caused significant damage to the athletic field in 2017, which was a particularly rainy year, said county administrator Philip Morley.

“It’s very unusual to drive semi trucks on a field,” said Monte Reinders, county engineer. “We ran heavy rollers on the field trying to smooth it out, we hired a contractor to aerate the field … We’re still finding ruts and damage from that year.”

But for Brandi Hamon, president of the Rhody Fest, time was running out to find a new location for the carnival. After working all year with county officials, city officials, the port, county parks, and Port Townsend Main Street, all their alternatives had been exhausted.

The county fairgrounds and Fort Worden had not agreed to host the carnival. Holding the carnival as close to downtown as possible was a high priority for festival planners. But having the carnival on the city streets had been turned down by city police and fire officials due to safety concerns.

“Public safety is one of our top priorities,” said Mayor Deborah Stinson, who also attended Monday’s meeting. “We’re willing to stay at the table, but we need a plan as quick as possible.”

Closing two main intersections on Monroe and Water Street, which are near the homeless shelter and would block fire access for six days, was not an option, she said.

The two other options still tentatively on the table are the Haines Park and Ride and Mountain View campus.

Both of these come with a significant amount of work to organize, Hamon said. Use of the Park and Ride would need to be approved by Jefferson Transit, and Funtastic, the company who runs the carnival, would have to be in agreement. Meanwhile, Mountain View campus has many of the same weather-contingent issues as Memorial Field, since it is also a field.

“It’s not reasonable to keep the festival out just because of a little wear and tear,” said Kris Logue, a Port Townsend resident. “Divots can be filled, grass can be watered, nature can take its course, and all will be well when the festival ends.”

Without the carnival, Rhody Fest would lose between $10,000 to $15,000, which make it possible for the Rhody Fest Royalty and float to travel around the state, according to Hamon.

Commission Chair Kate Dean said that while the commissioners could vote to approve holding the carnival at Memorial Field, they wanted to make sure that festival planners had a back-up plan, so that rainy weather would not cause them to cancel the carnival altogether.

“Our job is not to have the carnival,” Dean said. “You guys have to carry the water on this.”

In the end, the commissioners found themselves in the same position they were in one year ago, deciding to hold the carnival for one more year at Memorial Field, despite the possible damage to the field.

“Let’s hope for good weather,” Reinders said.

Meanwhile, festival planners have another year to find a permanent solution to the problem and a forever home for the carnival.