The Folk Project will be starting the New Year the same way it began the old one: Online.
“Due to the Omicron surge, The Folk Project is suspending in-person attendance and going back to a fully online schedule,” the nonprofit music organization announced Monday.
The news follows Friday’s mask mandate, from Mayor Tim Dougherty, for Morristown businesses and venues. Morristown has seen 150 new cases of COVID-19 since Dec. 23, 2021, according to statistics from Morris County’s health department.
On Monday, the COVID-19 transmission rate in New Jersey was 1.66. Anything above 1.0 indicates the virus is spreading.
More than 1,000 U.S. flights were canceled on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because of Omicron and weather issues, reported The New York Times.
The Folk Project’s Troubadour Friday series, which emerged from the COVID-19 lockdown in September 2021 with live concerts for fully vaccinated audiences at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship in Morris Township, goes virtual once more. The next show (tentatively) features John Forster with Ken Galipeau on Jan. 7, 2022, at 7:30 pm.
And the next Folk Project Open Stage, on Jan. 14, will be via Zoom.
Streaming Tuesdays will continue in that mode, resuming on Jan. 4, with Korby Lenker at 7 pm.
Canceled: The Swingin’ Tern New Year’s Dance, with Alexandra Deis-Lauby and the Brooklyn Swing Ensemble in East Hanover.
“This is not a time to despair or to react poorly. It is time to hit the reset button. We all know how to do this. Giving up is not an answer to anything,” the Folk Project said in a message to partons.
“Stay distanced, masked, and tested for your physical health, but stay connected online for your emotional health… online is safe, and that’s the point. When more information leads to reasonably safe gatherings, The Folk Project community will gather in-person again. Hopefully, the wait will be short.”
Good to see Common Sense will prevail.