I hope that you all have been enjoying early Summer in Burlington, especially the return of Jazz Festival and the City’s first annual Juneteenth Celebration. Thanks to your hard work and dedication throughout the emergency, there is much more to look forward to in the weeks and months ahead.
End of the Emergency and After Action Report
Last week, I announced the end of the Coronavirus Emergency in Burlington by Executive Order. Our community’s performance throughout this emergency response has been exceptional. Burlingtonians should be proud to be residents of the largest municipality in the most vaccinated County in the most vaccinated state in America.
The end of the Emergency Order marks a significant accomplishment, one that rests on the hard work of our dedicated City team and countless community partners, including many local organizations from Age Well to Lyric Theatre, dozens of talented organizers like Wei Wie Wang from the Vermont Professionals of Color Network and Jacob Bogre from AALV and their colleagues who supported the BIPOC vaccine clinics, brave healthcare providers at the University of Vermont Medical Center and Community Health Centers of Burlington, and numerous local businesses from Garnet to Vermont Teddy Bear,.
Most importantly, this accomplishment belongs to you – the people of Burlington – who in a time a great uncertainty and loss, demonstrated a profound commitment to our community and through your actions, ensured that Burlington remained one of the safest City’s in the nation throughout 457 days of the Covid emergency.
We also released a Covid-19 Pandemic Response After Action Report which outlines eight guiding principles of our pandemic response and details numerous critical interventions, best practices, and lessons learned. Our hope is that this report can inform both decisions in upcoming months about what innovations from the pandemic we should work to retain, as well as future generations of Burlingtonians facing another major emergency.
What I have learned over the last 457 days, and what this community should long remember, is that even in the face of a seemingly insurmountable challenge, the people of Burlington are capable of forging incredible progress.
Independence Day, July 3rd
We are also excited to announce that Burlington’s well-loved July 3rd Independence Celebrations are back!
This is what we have been working toward. With the decades-long tradition returning after over a year of public health restrictions that limited large gatherings, we expect thousands to gather along the Burlington waterfront for the biggest fireworks show in Vermont on Saturday, July 3rd, 2021.
Independence Day Celebrations are always so important to our community and to our local businesses, and this year’s events may be the most significant we have ever organized. Our businesses are eager for visitors to come back to Burlington, and our neighbors want and need a community scale celebration.
I invite Burlingtonians, Vermonters, and visitors to join us on July 3rd to recognize and celebrate the incredible resilience of our community as we look forward to a vibrant summer season in a fully re-opened city. I am confident this will be a celebration to remember.
The evening’s events will begin at 5:00 pm in Battery Park with a ceremony honoring local Covid-19 victims and celebrating the resilience of the Burlington community. The fireworks show will start at 9:30 pm. Information about activities, parking, travel, and more can be found next week at www.btvjuly3.com.
City Hall Park
I know we are all excited to provide a sense of normalcy, fun, and adventure this summer, especially for kids and families.
I think that is, in part, why the new and restored City Hall Park has so quickly become a destination location for neighbors and visitors of all ages.
Our team at Burlington City Arts has been working hard to bring back all of the park programmings you love, and to bring new events and performances to the park all summer long. Some new ongoing events include Splash Dance every Friday from 4-7 pm, where local kid-friendly DJ’s sync up to the fountain and kids are welcome to splash and play along to the music, and All Heart in the Park, a storytelling series every Tuesday evening from 5-6pm hosted by Ferene Paris Meyer of All Heart Inspirations. Check out the full calendar of upcoming events at www.burlingtoncityarts.org.
From fireworks to paddle boarding, and summer concerts to summer camps, there is so much happening all across the City the summer. Thank you for supporting your neighbors and our local businesses over the past 15 months and ensuring that all Burlingtonians will have a summer to remember.
I hope to see you out and about in the City soon.
Warmly,
Miro
If you would like to receive additional e-mail newsletters from the Mayor’s Office about city issues and events sign up at www.burlingtonvt.gov/mayor/mayorsupdates
And the Mayor is hosting in-person coffees again just about every Wednesday from 8-9 AM at the Bagel Café in the New North End – join us!
