Will the weather wash out one of the Beaufort Water Festival’s most popular events?

One of the Beaufort Water Festival’s most popular events is at the mercy of the weather.

Thunderstorms are forecast during the festival’s Motown Monday in Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park. Water Festival officials will decide at the last minute whether the event will go on as scheduled, festival volunteer Todd Stowe said.

“Light rain we can handle,” Stowe said. “Heavy showers and thunderstorms we would be forced to cancel.”

An announcement will be made on www.bftwaterfestival.com and the Water Festival Facebook page.

The Water Festival’s Teen Dance was cut short by rain Sunday night. A deluge and thunderstorm Monday morning took down a couple tents in the festival’s arts and crafts market in Waterfront Park, Stowe said.

Beer and food vendor tents were taken down Sunday and equipment disconnected to protect them from the elements.

Tickets for Motown Monday with music by Hilton Head band Deas Guyz are $15, and children 5 and younger are free. Weather permitting, gates open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m.

The Water Festival wasn’t affected by weather at all in 2016, and the year before had rain only one night.

“Some things are just beyond our control,” Stowe said.

This story was originally published July 17, 2017 at 12:18 PM with the headline "Will the weather wash out one of the Beaufort Water Festival’s most popular events?."