More SE MN Summer Events Cancelled Due To COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has put many town celebrations, county fairs, state fairs, and other summer events on old in 2020, and more town events were canceled.

Rushford Days, Houston Hoedown, and the Taste of the Trail events were are canceled for 2020, and look forward to bouncing back in 2021.

According to the Rushford Days website, the committee made the tough decision to cancel the event originally planned for mid-July. Instead, the next Rushford Days will take place in July 2021 from 12th to the 18th.

"With regret, Rushford Festivities has made the decision to cancel Rushford Days 2020, originally planned for mid-July. Our volunteer group has always been committed to putting on the best celebration possible for the community we love, and we are extremely saddened to have to cancel the event to which we look forward most every summer. The contributions from our businesses and the help of many volunteer community members make Rushford Days possible. Needless to say, these past few weeks have been troubling for many of our businesses, and the weeks ahead remain unclear. For the safety of our volunteers, festivalgoers, their families, and our community, we feel it will likely remain unwise to encourage large gatherings during the summer months. We have not seen a major outbreak in our area, and we want to do our part to keep it that way."

Also canceling their event in 2020 was the Houston Hoedown Days, as they look forward to hosting the event again in 2021. According to the event's website, the board felt it was the right decision to make during the pandemic:

"This year has been one of struggle and major decisions. We have all felt it. We have all seen it. Due to the current situation in the world, along with gathering information from other festivals we have decided to cancel Houston Hoedown Days this year. We do not do it lightly and we do not do it without extremely heavy hearts. We have already discussed some contingencies for the Hoedown Court, coronation, and this year’s junior class.

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The board does not feel that it would be wise for the safety of our community, volunteers, or attendees to have our celebration. Financially it could also cripple us and could end Hoedown’s future as well. Hoedown is not just a celebration, but a way to raise funds for community projects, school events, and city businesses through our local Chamber Of Commerce. We don’t want to have it be the last Hoedown ever due to the financial strain it may put on our beloved town festival. We all know how well the people of Houston rally around each other and our community events, but we cannot take the risk this year.

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We ask that everyone respect our decision, and know that it’s not made lightly and we consider every aspect. We’re all in this together! We hope next year will be safer and more stable and we can all come back and have a celebration to be proud of!"

The Taste of the Trail event set for several weekends in September also decided to cancel in 2020 due to the pandemic. The event was set to be in Peterson, Whalan, and Lanesboro on September 12th, Harmony Preston, and Fountain on September 19th and the Rushford Area and Houston on September 26th.