The setting for the final show of this summer’s Project Arts concert series won’t be as scenic as usual, but it will be safer.
The organization behind the popular free concerts is moving Wednesday’s event from Pilgrim Memorial Park on the waterfront to Memorial Hall on Court Street because of the town’s high risk for Eastern equine encephalitis, a dangerous mosquito-borne disease. (On Tuesday, New Hampshire officials said a Hampstead man died from EEE.)
While the town has put in place a dusk to dawn closing of all public fields and parks, the waterfront park is on state property and thus not technically covered by the closings. Nonetheless, Project Arts said Tuesday in a social media post that “due to park closures, we will not be able to have our last show outside.” A Project Arts spokesperson said in a text that the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, which controls Pilgrim Memorial Park, made the decision to not allow the concert to take place outdoors.
Just a day earlier, Project Arts had said the Aug. 28 show was expected to go on as scheduled on the waterfront.
Although the venue will now be different, the lineup remains the same: The Brothers Project, an Allman Brothers tribute band, will headline, preceded by Sara Martin. The doors open at 6 p.m., and Martin is scheduled to go on at 6:30 p.m.
Project Arts said the food trucks that have helped to give the waterfront shows a festival-like feel will likely be parked along Memorial Drive, adjacent to Memorial Hall, so come early and bring an appetite.
Mark Pothier can be reached at mark@plymouthindependent.org.