To the Editor:

Hopefully, the City Council will think long and hard before ending the Secret City Festival as we know it and move “something” to the fall. The Festival now has many activities for children, music by community and aspiring groups, community booths, and much more that might not be possible outside in November. Not to mention the plethora of festivals, football, and other events in the fall already, making October an impossible time to schedule things.

One thing that will definitely be gone is the TN CREATES fine art and craft show, which the city asked the Oak Ridge Art Center to develop nine years ago. It has gown in scope and interest over the years and is one reason many people come to the festival. The Art Center has had its own show in November for 30 years (November 9 this year), plus there are already numerous other shows in the fall, including Museum of Appalachia and Southern Highlands and Foothills in November, plus the non-juried Pilot Club show here in November, two weeks after the Art Center Gallery of Holiday Shops.

Has this small group, which did not ask for input from many who had led the Secret City Festival for ages, thought about a seven- to 14-day festival in late June, culminating with July 4, which is already a time of family visits home to Oak Ridge (I met dozens of my kids’ friends at Secret City last year)? What the task force seems to be envisioning as a time to honor veterans could still be held in November. We keep saying we want activities to attract younger families—let’s keep the great one we have now, which had its biggest attendance ever this past June and is a great summer family time.

Judy Kidd

Oak Ridge

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