By Bruce Karnick

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With all that happened in 2020, there was a lot more that did not happen. Rivertown Days, the yearly town festival, was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year, the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce, the organizers of Rivertown Days, is moving forward with the planning of this year’s festival.

The event is scheduled to take place July 16th to July 18th.

In their information release, the Chamber stated the following: The Rivertown Days committee is excited to move forward with hopeful hearts, open eyes and caution in preparation for the 2021 Hastings Rivertown Days event. This past year has left us all wishing we had a crystal ball, but absent of such certainty, we are working through several scenarios to produce a safe and successful event.

This is the perfect opportunity to make some big changes, and we hope the Hastings community as a whole will embrace and help support this long-standing event. Not knowing what the future will hold in 4 months, there are a few decisions that have been made regarding event activities.

Expect something new! With a full year to reflect, the committee is ready and willing to shake things up.

Know that our team will closely follow the guidance of health experts. We’ll continue to keep our partners, sponsors and community informed along the way.

We’re spreading out! The event map is expanding, details will follow as summer approaches.

Given the tight timeline and uncertainty of what July will bring, the Rivertown Days parade will not be part of this year’s event however, area businesses will have the opportunity and support of the city to host their own Rivertown Days promotional event! Applications will be posted soon.

See RIVERTOWN Page 3 Rivertown

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The question that will need to be answered now is, can the event be successful being more spread out over town? Hastings is lucky to have so many wonderful parks, part of which is an amazing river front park downtown. The challenge of downtown has been parking, so spreading things out should mean less congestion. But that also means you cannot just park for the day and wander around one spot for 12 hours like you can at the state fair. So, there will definitely be some give and take as part of the changes.

As residents are clamoring for a sense of normalcy, the Rivertown Days Committee is working to bring some of the normalcy back while keeping event goers safe. It is a disappointment that the parade will not be part of the festivities this year but consider the alternative. Cottage Grove has already cancelled their town event, Strawberry Fest. We here at the Journal will share updates with you as decisions are made and the event details are made public.