Hot Springs sees more cancellations

The Hot Springs Convention Center closed at the end of the business day on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. - Photo by Richard Rasmussen of The Sentinel-Record
The Hot Springs Convention Center closed at the end of the business day on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. - Photo by Richard Rasmussen of The Sentinel-Record

The Arkansas Bar Association's annual meeting -- a conference that has been held in Hot Springs for 121 years -- has been canceled due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19, Visit Hot Springs Director of Sales Tammy Clampet said in an email Friday.

The meeting was scheduled for June 10-12 at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

"They will have a virtual conference this summer (but) did firm up their commitment to Hot Springs for 2022," Clampet said.

She noted the conference had approximately 850 attendees that were anticipated to use 1,000 Hot Springs hotel room night stays.

VHS Director of Marketing Bill Solleder said "basically everything" in April has canceled.

"And I would guess most of May has canceled, and we're just taking it day by day right now to see how June shapes up," he said.

Solleder said when events cancel, VHS is attempting to get a firm reschedule date, and he noted everything at the Convention Center is "really more" postponed, rather than canceled.

"The (VHS) Sales Team is working to reschedule all the conventions," he said.

Events that are "on the fence" about canceling or postponing, Solleder said, are ones scheduled for late May and early June.

He said a decision will be made in late April as to whether or not the World Championship Running of the Tubs, which is scheduled for May 30, will be canceled or postponed. Also, he said the new date for The First Ever 17th Annual World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade will be announced April 17.

A list of events still scheduled to happen can be found on VHS's blog "Hot Springs COVID-19 Community Updates," which is located at hotsprings.org. Solleder said the blog is kept "up to date as possible."

"Hopefully we'll get through this (pandemic) quickly and summer and fall in Hot Springs will be packed with events going on," Solleder said. "It'll be hard to choose which fun to have."

Local on 04/04/2020

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