By Bruce Karnick

After being cancelled in 2020 for the first time in over 40 years, Hastings Rivertown Days is BACK! Starting Friday, July 16th, until Sunday, July 18th, come celebrate in downtown Hastings! Buttons are $15 at participating merchants or $20 at the gates. The button helps support the efforts of the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce and the volunteer committee that planned this wonderful event. Buttons are required for adults to enter Levee Park and second street on both Friday and Saturday. Sunday, the Car Show on second street is open to everyone. Kids 12 and under are free to enter all Rivertown Days events.

Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce Director Kristy Barse released a video online talking about the plans for this year’s Rivertown days. “This event has been going on for just over 40 years, many Hastings community members know this. When it started, it was a massive celebration that was all encompassing, all of the businesses got See RIVERTOWN DAYS Page 3 Rivertown Days

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involved several organizations got involved, and it was a huge city-wide celebration, so Rivertown days is a big, big thing in our community.”

Barse continued to explain that through her six years at the chamber, different groups around the community started to take bits and pieces of the Rivertown Days celebration and make it their own. From fireworks to concerts and other aspects, changes have been happening.

This year, Rivertown Days will look slightly different than previous years. During the planning stages in early 2021, the committee was forced to conform to expected limitations due to COVID. At one point in time, they had expected there was going to be a limit of 2,500 people in the area normally occupied by the car shows. That limitation eventually was lifted, but by then it was too late to change things back. One of the changes was not having a parade this year. Parade floats take time and money to create. There simply was not enough time to plan for a quality parade. The committee still wanted to do something that visitors could gather to see, so they opted to have the car show on Sunday instead. A great back up option that will be free for all on Sunday.

Another difference is the addition of extra musical acts. This year, 25 bands will perform on Friday and Saturday. Many of them are local acts with a smattering of regional acts mixed in. Four stages will be scattered downtown featuring acts like Nur-D, Nathan Greiner, Good for Gary, The Coxmen, Blake Zak, Matthew Brown, Nick and The Metro Gnomes, Flipp, IronStar, Wicked Garden and more. The 61 Stage is at the end of Second street by the Highway 61 Bridge, Tyler Stage is the opposite end of Second Street at Tyler, Sibley Stage is the smaller stage up the hill from Second Street on Sibley Street and the Pavilion Stage is under the Rotary Pavilion in Levee Park. The Hastings High School Marching Band will also perform on Second Street, Saturday at 11:15 a.m.

The Carnival is back in Levee Park. There will be carnival games, rides and all your favorite fair food. The carnival will run Friday 5:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m., Saturday 11:00 a.m. – 10:30 p.m. and Sunday Noon to 5:00 p.m. Unlimited ride wristbands are available for purchase for $20 each. There are three time slots for the unlimited rides, Friday Night 6:30-10:30, Saturday day Noon to 4:00 and Saturday night 6:30-10:30.

The final piece is the Arts and Crafts Fair. This is the one portion of Rivertown Days that is free all weekend long. As of the last report, there were 75 vendors signed up to sell their wares on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The craft fair is in Jaycee Park, just a short walk along the river from the carnival and music stages.

If you would like to volunteer to be on the Rivertown Days planning committee next year, visit the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce.

Rivertown days is back after a long, awful year plus, lets get downtown and celebrate Hastings!