The MLK Coalition announced that the annual citywide King Day program at Music Hall is going online this year out of health and safety concerns.“Now, with this current round of COVID surge which is catching people by surprise and infecting more people than we’ve seen so far, having folks inside music hall didn’t seem like a wise choice for us since we couldn’t guarantee that everyone had been vaccinated,” coalition member Louise Lawarre said.For the second year in a row, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced organizers to pivot and make difficult decisions regarding changes in the program that attracts thousands of people.So the Martin Luther King Jr. program at Music Hall is now only virtual, as is the King Day program from the Freedom Center on Jan. 17, the holiday celebrating the life of the late civil rights leader.“The program will go on just like it did we’ll just ask people to watch from home without coming to Music Hall,” Lawarre said.The coalition said health and safety are the main consideration even though the signature march through downtown remains an in-person event starting at the Freedom Center and ending this year at Washington Park.“We hope folks do come to we’ll ask everyone to stay masked (and) march if they feel comfortable. We’ll ask everyone to stay masked,” Lawarre said.The coalition has sponsored the citywide King events for nearly 50 years. Although the group has made modifications over the years because of weather and now the COVID-19 pandemic, the event has never been canceled.
The MLK Coalition announced that the annual citywide King Day program at Music Hall is going online this year out of health and safety concerns.
“Now, with this current round of COVID surge which is catching people by surprise and infecting more people than we’ve seen so far, having folks inside music hall didn’t seem like a wise choice for us since we couldn’t guarantee that everyone had been vaccinated,” coalition member Louise Lawarre said.
For the second year in a row, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced organizers to pivot and make difficult decisions regarding changes in the program that attracts thousands of people.
So the Martin Luther King Jr. program at Music Hall is now only virtual, as is the King Day program from the Freedom Center on Jan. 17, the holiday celebrating the life of the late civil rights leader.
“The program will go on just like it did we’ll just ask people to watch from home without coming to Music Hall,” Lawarre said.
The coalition said health and safety are the main consideration even though the signature march through downtown remains an in-person event starting at the Freedom Center and ending this year at Washington Park.
“We hope folks do come to we’ll ask everyone to stay masked (and) march if they feel comfortable. We’ll ask everyone to stay masked,” Lawarre said.
The coalition has sponsored the citywide King events for nearly 50 years. Although the group has made modifications over the years because of weather and now the COVID-19 pandemic, the event has never been canceled.
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