Residents of Liverpool can breathe a collective sigh of relief as Privateer Days is not being disbanded.

Rumours swirled about the demise of the festival after the organizers posted on Facebook asking for volunteers to step forward and replace most of the board.

Privateer Days Board Chair Terrena Parnell says the event isn’t shutting down, but several board members, including herself are moving on.

“I’ve always believed that if you can’t give 100 per cent then don’t do it. At this point, I have other things on the go that I’m not able to give 100 per cent and I just feel it would be better in someone else’s hands,” said Parnell.

The Privateer Days board is looking for people to fill the senior roles of chairperson, vice Chairperson, secretary, and treasurer as well as directors of grants & funding, music, PR/media Relations and Vendors.

Like every other festival in the province, the board has been unable to host Privateer Days for the past two years due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Parnell is confident once the positions are filled at their annual general meeting in February the new board will have enough time to settle into their roles and put on the event at the end of June.

“We’ve pretty much got everything in place for them,” said Parnell. “It’s just a matter of moving forward with it and making any changes they feel they want to make or any additions and go from there.”

Parnell says the board was working to make Privateer Days a more family-oriented event, by bringing back fairground rides and revamping how entertainment was to be presented.

“We have three local drinking establishments directly across the parking lot from where Privateer Days is being held. So instead of having the entertainment tent as a “beer tent”, it would’ve gone back to an entertainment tent, and we would’ve supported our local establishments across the road to bring in some business to them as well and to really make it more of a community event,” said Parnell.

It will be up to the new board members to decide if they will follow through on that vision.

Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, the Privateer Days annual general meeting will be held virtually over Zoom at 7:30 p.m. of Feb. 24.

Anyone wishing to attend or put themselves forward for one of the vacant positions should contact the Privateer Days board through their website or Facebook page to receive the log on information.

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