Greater Belhaven Foundation‘s Executive Director Casey Creasey says Bright Lights Belhaven Nights just isn’t possible this year, not in a big “spread out, street festival” kind of way at least.

Instead, the organization has plans to keep the event with a more “organic” feel.

“I remembered a post from a friend in Covington, Louisiana where she shared about people playing music on their porches and art vendors selling in their front yards, and I thought, ‘Why can’t we do that here?'” Creasey told My City TV in an episode airing Thursday, August 8.

Creasey envisions folks on their evening walks, socially-distanced, of course, strolling the state’s largest historic district and communing in COVID-appropriate ways.

“The core group of our planning committee had been talking since Mach 11 when (COVID-19) came to light in Mississippi and what this meant for us,” she said. “We went through several variations of what this could look like, but when we came to end of June, we realized Bright Lights just wasn’t going to happen.”

The organization is also encouraging Belhavenites and Jacksonians at large to light up their yards to honor healthcare workers – now more than ever – in this time of high case numbers and hospitals at capacity.

“In all of this, and especially since the cases have gotten worse, they are the forgotten heroes. Now that the world ‘reopened’, it just seems like we haven’t heard about them much.”

Activities in Belhaven for Saturday, August 8:

Music
1703 Piedmont Street – St. Brigid’s – 6:30 pm
1011 Harding Street – Bailey Brothers Band – starts at Dusk (stream live – bit.ly/baileybroslive)

Food, Drinks & Treats
730 N. Jefferson Street (Belhaven Residential) – Food Trucks – 6-8 pm

• Taqueria La Reata

• Chunky Dunks

• Urban Foxes

• Which Wich Sandwich Truck

1066 Manship Street – Coffee Prose will be serving Pops and Cold Brew

Art and Handmade Goods
1345 Linden Place – Paintings by Ellen Langford – after 3 pm
911 Pinehurst Place – Watercolors by Casey Creasey
1500 Poplar Blvd. – Morning Glory Designs Jewelry – 4 – 6:30 pm
1600 Saint Ann St. – Emily Story Art 6 – 10 pm

Giveaways, Goodies & Fun Stuff
911 Pinehurst Place – BLBN Huggies and Glow Sticks – 4 – 6 pm
910 Pinehurst Place – Glow Stick Bracelets and face painting
1304 Hazel Street – Fans 5:00 – 10 pm
1600 Saint Ann Street – Dog and Human Watering Station, Puppy Pool, Lighted Fairy Garden open for tours and Big Screen of Cute Puppy Videos – 6:00 – 10 pm

See the map: bit.ly/BLBN20