A letter from Jessica Tomasin:
Dear friends and colleagues,
With recent developments surrounding COVID-19 nationally and in North Carolina, we cannot in good conscience move forward with the festival as scheduled. The safety of our guests and participants is our number one priority.
To say that postponing the festival is heartbreaking for us is an understatement.
We want to bring people together and provide a space to share stories and support one another and we want that space to feel safe enough where people will get outside of their comfort zones. Asking people to risk their health is not how we want people to expand their comfort zones. We felt a moral obligation to not put people at any more risk than is needed.
I created Connect Beyond Festival to help people create the world they want to live in. I have poured my heart and my soul into this because I believe it is exactly what is needed in our world right now.
Over the past two years, Connect Beyond Festival has been honored to work with so many talented artists, filmmakers, thought leaders, and changemakers, and we look forward to continuing this goal later this year and into the next decade. At this moment, our focus is to ensure the health and safety of everyone. Once we are assured by public health professionals that a public health risk is minimized, we will launch a revitalized plan for Connect Beyond Festival 2020 later this year.
If there’s anything I take away from this last week is that we must absolutely persevere. As we live in this time of uncertainty, and I don’t just mean with COVID-19, I see how imperative it is that we continue to provide tools and resources for people.
Connect Beyond Festival’s annual weekend-long event, as well as similar micro-events on both coasts, intends to return in 2020. For our fans, tickets will be refunded upon request by visiting this page and filling out the form to initiate the process before Sunday, April 12, 2020. For guests interested in attending our rescheduled future event at a later date, all remaining ticket holders will be offered (1) additional ticket of equal value to their original purchase.
We are so appreciative to all of the artists, agents, venues, sponsors, partners, creators, and vendors involved in Connect Beyond Festival. We will come back and make this festival even better than before. Until then, I hope everyone stays healthy and safe.
Much Love To All,
Jessica Tomasin
Founder/Executive Director of Connect Beyond Festival
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