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The 38th-annual Washington Summer Festival has been rescheduled for Sept. 11-12 after being pushed back due to the COVID-19 virus.

Usually, the Summer Festival is held as a “kick off” for summer, but this year it will ultimately kick off the fall season.

Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Catherine Glover explained the importance of having the festival.

“It’s a community event. It’s a tradition in the community, and it is also the Chamber’s biggest fundraiser for our organization,” Glover said. “We like to see it happen at a time where everybody in the community can come together, and there’s something for everybody to enjoy. We’re pushing hard to make it happen.”

The goal for the Chamber of Commerce is to make it more of a local event for Washingtonians.

“Over time, what we have tried to do is make it a more local event. Not that it wasn’t in the past, it definitely was, but we love it when the local community members come out, we love it when churches and other non-profits come out and use it as a fundraiser,” Glover continued. “That’s kind of been the mission the past few years. We want to make sure there is something for everybody.”

Glover said the chamber staff is in the planning phase of the Summer Festival now, but there will likely be many guidelines pertaining to social distancing.

“It’s definitely going to look a little different. It’s just trying to find out what that different will look like — we just don’t know yet,” Glover said. “A group has already met to discuss what it will look like, and there will be safety precautions in place, we’ll be following guidelines and all of that. We’re pushing for it to be a community-wide event with a lot of participation from local business, nonprofits and community support, but all the specifics have not been laid out yet.”

The Catalinas have been booked as the Friday night performers, and the City of Washington will be sponsoring the fireworks. On Saturday, Diverse Groove will be performing for the finale.

Other details pertaining to the Summer Festival have yet to be ironed out.