SNOHOMISH — Music and chocolate lovers will have to get their fix elsewhere: there will be no August Taste of Music or spring Chocolate Walk this year.
“We sort of lost our site” for Taste of Music said Jim Bennett, the
executive director for Historic Downtown Snohomish (HDS), the nonprofit that hosts the events.
The festival in recent years happened near the Carnegie library building. This summer, the city plans to begin demolishing the Carnegie’s annex building and start refurbishment of the original 1910 structure.
“Most of the Carnegie’s block will be encircled by a construction fence and so off-limits to any use,” said city project manager Denise Johns in an email.
Construction will not derail the Snohomish Farmers Market; opening day is Thursday, May 2.
Bennett said financing the three-day festival, which drew thousands to town, was another impediment for the nonprofit.
“It was hard for us from a financial standpoint, covering costs.”
Instead, Bennett said, HDS may host a musical event in conjunction with Kla Ha Ya Days, which this year are July 17 to 21. No specifics are decided yet though, he said.
The group has also decided to cancel the Chocolate Walk, which had previously been moved out to April 20. The popular event proved difficult for merchants to manage while keeping up with normal business, Bennett said. Sourcing chocolate from small producers was another challenge.
2018 marked the 11th annual Taste of Music Festival and sixth annual Chocolate Walk. Over time, the Taste of Music added hosting
an International Blues Challenge competition for the Washington Blues Society.
Organizers may consider bringing the Chocolate Walk back next year, Bennett said.
In the meantime, HDS has introduced a new free contest, Leprechaun Quest, which runs through Sunday, March 17. Participants who stop by at least 15 of 21 local businesses and find a hidden leprechaun can enter their merchant-stamped punch card to win ”a fabulous pot o’prizes.”
For more information on the nonprofit’s events, go to www.historic
downtownsnohomish.org
