With a weekend chock full of fall festivals, arts celebrations and wine tastings, local residents are wondering how an impending nor'easter racing up the coast will affect all the festivities penciled in on calendars.
Charlie Foley, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Taunton, said a storm lingering off the coast of the Carolinas may combine with a second storm near Puerto Rico and drop heavy rains and wind on the area this weekend.
"They're going to pass pretty far to the east but will be close enough for a fringe effect," Foley said. "It won't be a favorable weekend for any outdoor festivals. It's going to be pretty wet and miserable."
Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm made a decision yesterday afternoon to reschedule its Family Harvest Festival to Oct. 11. The event was originally supposed to happen tomorrow, rain or shine, but most of the events are outdoors, so the committee found it best to reschedule because of the impending storm.
"We didn't have an official rain date because we'd been very lucky in terms of weather in previous years," said Bethany Groff, northern regional site manager for Historic New England.
Changing the date this late in the game proved to be difficult and included two days worth of phone tag with vendors.
"We've been calling cow farmers, doughnut makers, puppeteers, but everyone's been very flexible," Groff said. "In fact, we have some people that couldn't make it to the original date that can now come, including a very friendly cow. We're a nonprofit, so we can't expect people to jump when we ask them for a favor. They were doing us a favor in participating in the festival, and now they're doing another favor in rescheduling."
According to the National Weather Service, there is an 80 percent chance of rain predicted for Newburyport tomorrow. The rain is slated to begin early this morning with the heaviest rains coming tonight.
"The rain will be heavy along the coast, with winds of 25 to 35 mph," Foley said. "There will be a high surf advisory as well as dangerous rip currents."
Despite the weekend forecast, the Taste of Autumn wine tasting at Maudslay Arts Center is still on, said Rich Napolitano, vice president and executive director of Anna Jaques Community Health Foundation.
"All systems go as of right now," Napolitano said. "We have a tent going up, and there's a pre-existing structure there." The wine tasting, presented in partnership with Leary's Fine Wines & Spirits of Newburyport, takes place Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Maudslay State Park.
Beverly Knapp, vice president of the Georgetown Historical Society, isn't happy with the forecast, as the society's Historical House Tour is planned for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"We didn't set up a rain date, and this is a main source of funding for us. It's the only opportunity to get inside the houses," Knapp said. "We're asking for no rain from 8 to 4!"
Though bad weather has never hindered the house tours before, the society took a pre-emptive strike in purchasing gauze booties for people to wear when they enter the seven private houses.
Knapp predicts the rain won't deter many, stating, "There's a certain crowd that does house tours."
Essex National Heritage Commission spokeswoman Barbara McGowan expressed a similar sentiment for its Trails and Sails weekend, which is taking place all over Essex County.
"Mostly, participants are diehards," McGowan said. "They go to the galleries; they hunt for mushrooms — nothing will deter them."
More than 200 free events are planned for the "Trails & Sails 2008: A Weekend to GO!," which lasts from today to Sunday and spans more than 140 locations. As of yesterday, all the events were still on, with the Essex River Cruise changing from Saturday to Sunday. Sunday is predicted to have only a 30 percent chance of rain, according to the National Weather Service.
A weather alert will be posted today at 2 p.m. on trailsandsails.org, the organization's Web site, alerting people if any events are canceled or postponed. Some events may offer discounted future visits in the event of a rain cancellation.
Even the kayak tour at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge wasn't canceled.
"We don't go out in the ocean where it's rough. We stay in the marsh," said Frank Drauszewski, deputy refuge manager. "Right now, it's on. Even if it rains, I make a point of being there in case people go. It's up to them to decide if they want to go or not."
McGowan recalled 2004's Trails and Sails weekend being a wet one, but every year the event draws in around 4,000 people.
"Avid supporters will always go, rain or shine," McGowan said.
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