MONTE VISTA – The regular Monte Vista Crane Festival has been canceled for 2021 for safety reasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cranes will be celebrated with creativity this March in Monte Vista.
An online festival starts on March 12th at 7 p.m. and you can enjoy it from the comfort of your home. Jenny Nehring, the head of the crane committee, informed Valley Publishing: “Anyone who registers will have on-demand access until March 17th to watch or re-watch the entire program at their convenience.”
Nehring said the event will be approximately 2 hours long and will be recorded. There will be a presentation by crane naturalist Sandra Noll “Cranes of the World”. It will also include a presentation by professional photographer Ed MacKerrow on wildlife and landscapes of the San Luis Valley. There will also be short video productions on cranes and SLV issues, as well as short interviews with refugee workers and members of the local community.
Tickets for the virtual festival cost $ 15 and are available online at mvcranefest.orgalong for additional festival and crane information.
In a statement on their website, the Monte Vista Crane Committee shared their hopes for a more normal festival next year.
“We look forward to getting our community excited for the 2022 Festival with events in the Vali-3 theater, the brand new Ski Hi-Event and Conference Center and bus tours to the refuge and other local attractions,” said the committee.
This year a socially distant craft fair will take place in the McMullen building on March 19 and 20 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The craft fair promises a wide variety of unique items including jewelry, books, organic CBD balms, art, art. Home decor, homemade soaps, kettle corn and much more. Masks are required to participate in the socially distant event.
Swoop of the Cranes will take place for the second time this year. The 5-foot steel crane silhouettes, transformed into unique masterpieces by local artists, will soon be sitting on light poles across the city. While the cranes are on display, citizens and visitors can vote for their favorites.
Cranes have been celebrated in Monte Vista every spring since 1983.
