Astor Place. Credit:
Satish Krishnamurthy/Flickr
A group of Wiccans may have to celebrate the solstice somewhere else after they were denied community approval to hold their annual festival on Astor Place.
The Third Annual Witchsfest USA had been scheduled to take place July 12 on the highly-trafficked East Village street, the same place it was held last year. The event marks the summer solstice with charity collections, drum circles and pagan-themedlocal vendors.
But DNAinfo reports that Community Board 2 refused to approve the application over concerns that the host organization, the Wiccan Family Temple, didn’t have a strong enough connection to the neighborhood.
The authority to approve the event ultimately rests with the mayor’sStreet Activity Permit Office.
Follow Emily Johnson on Twitter @emilyjreports
