The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WALLA WALLA—Gesa Power House Theatre regretfully announced the postponement of the Walla Walla Summer Stage Festival, previously scheduled for August 6-15. The new performing arts festival will be rescheduled to August 2022.

“This weekend, our team made the difficult but appropriate decision to postpone our new festival another year,” says Festival Director Victoria Watson. “We wanted Summer Stage to be about joy and celebration, but it’s clear from advance sales that the community is unsettled by recent developments in COVID and the Delta variant. It’s hard to push for this kind of event when the community is not ready to celebrate with us.”

The Walla Walla Summer Stage Festival was initially scheduled to launch in 2020. The festival was postponed to 2021 after Gesa Power House Theatre was forced to close its doors to the public for an entire year – from March 13, 2020, to March 12, 2021 – due to the state-mandated restrictions on events and public gatherings.

“Venues like ours were among the first businesses forced to close and the last to be allowed to reopen,” says Executive Director Heather Schermann. “When most of the state restrictions were lifted a month ago, we were eager to return to our mission of generating a strong, inclusive community through the performing arts.”

From March through June of this year, Gesa Power House Theatre was reopened for limited capacity and with social distancing measures enforced. Starting June 30, Governor Inslee announced the return to normal capacity and operations for businesses. On July 1, Gesa Power House Theatre announced its upcoming season, including dates for most of the shows canceled during the previous year and the new Walla Walla Summer Stage Festival.

The Walla Walla Summer Stage Festival will resume in August of 2022. The theater is working on rescheduling these performers for next year.

Ticket holders were notified by email of the cancellation. The box office will work with patrons on whether they want to hold their tickets for next year, exchange them for other upcoming shows, take a refund, or donate the funds to support ongoing operational costs.

The remaining events scheduled at Gesa Power House Theatre for 2021 are unaffected by this decision. However, the venue will continue to monitor the health and safety guidance at federal, state, and local levels. The theater maintains strict cleaning and sanitation procedures, and all staff and volunteers have provided proof of vaccination. Guidelines for patrons are published at http://www.phtww.org/covid-19/, and updates are emailed to ticket holders during the week before any given performance.

For more information about upcoming events, visit http://www.phtww.org or call the box office at (509) 529-6500.