BERLIN– Town officials approved the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum’s event plans for the coming season this week.
On Monday, the Berlin Town Council voted 3-0 to approve the museum’s special event requests for 2023.
“We are selling beer and wine at some of our events like we’ve done before so we’re just asking to do that again this summer,” said Melissa Reid, president of the museum.
Events on the museum’s calendar for 2023 include an Earth Day Celebration on April 22, four concerts on the museum lawn, the Peach Festival in August and the Harvest Book Festival in October. Reid said the only new event on the calendar was the April 22 celebration, which is being hosted in partnership with Burley Building Co.
Officials expressed no concerns with the calendar of proposed events. Councilman Jack Orris asked if the layout for the Berlin Peach Festival, which is headquartered on the museum’s lawn but spread throughout the entire downtown, would maintain that format this year.
Reid said the festival would incorporate downtown businesses and attendees would be encouraged to spread throughout town. She added that she was aware of traffic safety concerns shared last year but felt this format was the safer option.
“I know this has come up,” she said. “We do strongly ask that the street not be closed for Peach Festival because if you close the street right by Stevenson it will block us off and we think probably create an unsafe bottleneck right there.”
She added that organizers would try to get an electronic sign to put farther up Main Street advising motorists to be cautious as the event was underway.
Mayor Zack Tyndall said there had been no discussion at the staff level regarding closing the street during the event.
“I think we’re all on the same page with that,” he said. “We’ll see what we can do about the marquee for the peach festival.”
The council voted 3-0 to approve the event requests. The Earth Day Celebration is set for April 22 while concerts on the lawn will take place June 11, July 9, Aug. 13 and Sept. 10. The Berlin Peach Festival is slated for Aug. 5 and the Harvest Book Fest is set for Oct. 14.
The museum opens for the 2023 season on International Museum Day on Thursday, May 18 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information about the museum or its events, visit taylorhousemusuem.org.
