An effort to bring back the summer Harbor for the Arts festival has failed. Arts Enter, under the direction of Chairman Hank Meyer, along with the Citizens for Central Park acquired $1000 of taxpayer funds from the Town of Cape Charles to go towards a “proposed” Virginia Tourism Leveraged Grant of $2500 which was to be used for a revival of the festival.
In order to submit an application for the VTC Leveraged Grant, Arts Enter had to come up with three primary partners. It could not do so. This rebuke comes on the heels of a rejection by the ES Birding and Wildlife Festival last spring. Arts Enter, after learning that the Birding and Wildlife Festival had broken ties with Cape Charles based Eventacular, attempted to swoop in and take over where Eventacular had left off. The Birding and Wildlife Festival, apparently not anxious to rebound with another Cape Charles organization, vigorously rejected the Arts Enter offer.
While for the Harbor for the Arts Festival may be on hold, Citizens for Central Park are moving ahead with the “Concerts in the Park” series. Arts Enter Chairman Hank Meyer states in a letter to the town that the cost to continue the series is over $10,000, and requests that the town taxpayers provide funding to make up the shortfall. Monies will have to be allocated from the General Fund. In the letter, Meyers labels the concert series a ‘major tourism program’.