2020 Mystic Parade Permit is Not Approved

Memo from Mayor Stewart Welch, III: 

On September 14th, I met with organizers of the annual Mystic Parade and outlined a plan to safely have the parade this year with the caveat that no final decision would be made until after the Governor’s decision regarding extension/revision of her ‘Safer-at-Home’ order.  I also wanted more time to monitor COVID-19 trends. 

Today, I am announcing that the city will not approve the permit for the 2020 Mystic Parade based on three factors:

1.   Rates of new COVID-19 cases per population over the past two weeks have been higher for the Mountain Brook area than average for Jefferson County.
2.   Our Over-the-Mountain cities of Hoover, Vestavia and Homewood are not allowing events of this nature as a precaution against spreading COVID-19.  I have a concern that if we hold this event, we may attract visitors from surrounding municipalities creating a larger-than-expected crowd making social distancing impossible.
3.   At a time when our school administrators are diligently working towards returning students to school at one hundred percent capacity, I do not want to do anything that places this goal at risk.

This is a decision that was not made lightly and I truly hoped that we could host this popular event this year but, out of an abundance of caution, I believe this to be in the best interest of our community.