As the weather warms, the Tri-Town is already thinking about summer. But as the pandemic lingers, some of Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester’s annual festivities may come with some caveats.

Last year, traditions like Mattapoisett Harbor Days, the Rochester Country Fair and Marion’s Fourth of July parade were all cancelled by covid. This year, officials are working to make some of those events return.

The Mattapoisett Selectmen tentatively approved plans for the Mattapoisett Lions Club’s Harbor Days events at a March 9 meeting.

Harbor Days will go on from July 11-19, as long as the Lions Club continuously checks in with the town as the July events approach and covid numbers stay low. As a backup, Selectmen suggested the Lions build a plan to postpone the events to later in the summer, when attendees are more likely to have a covid vaccine.

King Lion Ross Kessler said that the club was looking for the typical July dates because of the potential for summer residents to attend Harbor Days, as well as the higher availability of vendors.

He said that most of the vendors that come to Harbor Days have their years outlined with the idea that the Lions Club events will be in July.

In addition, the Selectmen and Kessler discussed how best to use Shipyard park in order to avoid crowding.

Some potential solutions include specific entry and exit points and lines that would flow into Water Street.

“think that would allow better flow and you’d have better control,” Selectman Jordan Collyer said.

Collyer also suggested that the board begin to think about closing Water Street from Barstow Street to the Town Wharf.

“It might behoove us to take an additional safety measure and shut down that short span,” Collyer said.

Selectmen also tentatively approved the annual triathlon for mid-July, after discussion over whether the Lions Club would be able to control the large number of people typically present for the event at Town Beach.

“You know, as we all know, the Town Beach is a wreck of people at the beginning of that race,” Collyer said.

Kessel said the club’s mission is to “make this a better and healthier world,” so the Lions wouldn’t be taking any risks. He added that any crowding at the event would only be to the extent allowed by state and local guidelines.

The Lions Club will begin to meet with the town monthly to work out the details of Harbor Days.

As for Marion’s annual Fourth of July parade, the verdict will be left up to the state’s covid rules.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to bring the parade back this year,” Fourth of July Parade Committee member Donna Hemphill said. “It all depends on the guidance we receive from the state, though.”

She said that if the parade is able to go on, more information will be shared on Marion’s website and the parade’s Facebook page.

Rochester’s Country Fair has been cancelled for the second year in a row, after town officials advised Kelly Morgado, one of the fair’s organizers, that the fair would be too risky.

Morgado said that it would be “impossible” to enforce mask wearing and social distancing at the fair.

And because the fair operates on town-owned land, it has to be approved by Rochester.

“We’re at the mercy of the state and the town at this point,” Morgado said.

Morgado said she had been “waiting and waiting” to begin plans for the fair because she wasn’t sure whether it would be able to go on.

And with much of the entertainment at the fair paid for by Rochester County Fair, Inc., there was a lot to lose if the event was cancelled after entertainers were paid.

“So we’re just trying to be smart about it this year,” Morgado said.

Despite the loss of the fair, Morgado said that she’s thinking about hosting fundraisers in the fall.

Additionally, the Marion Art Center is working to keep as many of its typical events running as possible this year.

Despite a loosening of capacity restrictions by Gov. Charlie Baker, the MAC’s Executive Director Jodi Stevens said that the art center likely won’t use its theater over the summer.

“Even if we could have up to 50% or whatever the capacity is, it wouldn’t be worth it to do something in there,” she said.

Instead, the MAC will be focusing on outdoor events and indoor events that can be socially distanced.

Stevens said she hopes the art center will be able to put on an outdoor play, similar to the one the art center’s “Good People,” which was put on last summer in Bicentennial Park.

In addition, an event called “Spring Arts” will replace Art Week in may, after the Art Week festival was canceled by the state this year.

Stevens said the art center is working with local organizations to put together the Art Week replacement.

In July, the art center will be hosting Arts in the Park. The annual artisan market had fewer vendors than normal last year, but Stevens said she hopes the event will be more like normal this summer.

Stevens said she’s unsure about whether Cocktails by the Sea, the MAC’s annual fundraiser, will be able to go on this year.

“It’s unlikely people will be ready to attend that kind of event anyway,” Stevens said.