Barse, standing in front of the Levee Park Pavilion. “That allowed us to take an entire year to reflect for how we bring this event back to our community safely.”

That means big things for downtown Hastings. The event will grow from Levee park to encompass the downtown area, so visitors can “distance” adequately.

“The big change is we are expanding our footprint to not just Levee park but the entire historic downtown,” said Barse.

There will be a variety of events and entertainment.

“What that’s going to look like is we are bringing four music stages to our downtown area. We are moving up into Second Street,” said Barse.

There will be 20 bands on four stages on Friday and Saturday.

“We’ll have one stage at the Pavilion, and we’ll have two on Second Street. We’ll have another stage on Sibley Street. So far, we have 20 bands booked,” said Barse.

The band schedule will be released soon, and Barse said it’s a diverse mix of music styles.

“You can expect music on Friday night and also continuous music on Saturday from 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.

She thanked the Hastings Downtown Business Association and the City of Hastings for partnering on planning the event, which obviously will have to meet health guidelines and have limited capacity.

“We have a team committed to make sure this event is safe,” said Barse.

The craft fair will return to Jaycee park along the river, and the classic car show will be held on Sunday.

The uncertainty of having to plan the event in the COVID-19 world does mean there will be no parade this year. “We are excited to continue down this road to recovery,” an announcement on the chamber websites states. “Our community needs it.”

Chamber President Kristy Barse talked about plans for Rivertown Days at Levee Park.