One of the best small festivals around has decided to hold off on their annual celebration. Potato Days in Barnesville, MN has decided to cancel this years event and return for their 30th anniversary in 2021. Below is the official press release:
It is with a heavy heart that we must announce that Potato Days 2020 will not be held this year due to Covid-19. We will however be back in 2021 with our 30th Anniversary!
The safety and health of everyone involved is our top priority in making this difficult decision but the right decision. This decision was not made lightly. With the restrictions in place regarding social distancing, sanitation, crowd control, etc it would be extremely difficult to keep our Festival held at the high standards that we do. We have over 22,000 plus guests come to Barnesville for this Festival from all over the United States and World. With the restrictions that are in place it is unrealistic for our volunteer organization to achieve this and the liability is a great risk for our organization as well.
We recognize that without the Festival it hurts our non-profit organizations such as our churches, youth groups, etc. As our Food Court only allows non-profit groups to participate! We know that this will also affect their groups activities as well as the many businesses in town.
Even with the Festival being held in August, this is a year around job to plan and get all the events and details done in time. We felt it was in the organizations best interest to stop early and to not keep spending funds when the Festival could still not happen as we get closer.
We would like nothing better than to enjoy our favorite potato foods, watch Mashed Potato Wrestling and walk through the Car Show in McGrath park. We look forward to welcoming you all back in 2021 for our 30th Anniversary Celebration!
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