“That tough decision was made for the good of everyone, for the health and safety of everyone, we just couldn’t go on with the Festival as planned knowing the amount of cases out there and we still have to get more people vaccinated,” – Muscogee Nation Press Secretary Jason Salsman
Morgan Taylor/Reporter
OKMULGEE, Oklahoma – The annual Muscogee Nation Festival has been canceled for the second year due to the rising cases of COVID. The decision was made with the advice and guidance from medical professionals both nationally and in the Muscogee Nation Department of Health.
According to MN Press Secretary Jason Salsman, the administration had taken a long hard look at the festival but even after postponing to a later date; the ultimate decision was made to cancel.
“We lost it last year so it was tough to even postpone it,” Salsman said. “We took into account national numbers from the CDC and everything that was going on nationwide around us.”
He claimed the Nation is going back to a state where decisions had to be made based on the rising number of cases.
Salman said with the festival being an event people from across the country plan their vacation around to attend, the administration had to take into account the advice given by MNDH regarding COVID positivity rates and new variant case numbers climbing.
“That tough decision was made for the good of everyone, for the health and safety of everyone,” he said. “We just couldn’t go on with the festival as planned knowing the amount of cases out there and we still have to get more people vaccinated.”
Salsman said the administration would be looking forward to 2022 for a chance to have the festival as normal as possible.
