EATONVILLE, Fla. — An Eatonville tradition, the Zora Festival, which honors Zora Neale Hurston is switching things up this year due to COVID-19.

This year, they’re still finding ways to honor her, but things are a bit different.

“It's an outdoor festival of the arts known to attract tens of thousands of people, most of whom are African ancestry. We thought it would be really irresponsible to bring tens of thousands to Eatonville to have a super-spreader event. We didn't call it that, but it's [not] appropriate,” said Executive Director for the Association to Preserve Eatonville Community N.Y. Nathiri.

This year, organizers and sponsors moved to a hybrid festival where about 90% of the events have become virtual. The other 10% will be held n-person with safety guidelines in place.

“For the in person to be small, to respect to require masking and hand sanitization,” Nathiri said.

For in-person events, people can visit the museum seven days a week, and view the murals at the St. Lawrence AME church from 2-5 p.m. on Sundays.

Nathiri said while the festival may be different this year, the message remains the same.

“Celebrate the life of Zora Neil Hurston, writer, anthropologist; two, to celebrate the significance​ of her hometown Eatonville as the place she made known around the world as the first incorporated African American municipality in the U.S.; and third, the significance that African ancestry has made to the U.S. “

This year the festival events are spread out over the course of the month, instead of the usual nine days.