By: Donovan W. Mann – [email protected]
Eagle Grove, IA – The Eagle Grove Summerfest will be returning in 2021 to help the community and businesses reconnect over a fun weekend of activities.
The Eagle Grove Chamber of Commerce has announced the annual Summerfest is coming back. Executive Director Sara Middleton says they will have to make some changes this year but the objective of connecting the community with businesses remains the same.
The biggest change is the event will be held in Greenwood Park and the Wright County Fairgrounds instead of downtown due to ongoing construction. As a result the Chamber will be focusing more on promoting their sponsors with special banners. Middleton says they are also granting more time to allow businesses to plan events.
“Yeah, we’re just kind of doing different things to get them involved.” When the event is held downtown it opens up the ability for more face to face interactions in shop.
A big piece of Eagle Grove’s Summerfest is a live music performance and this they will bringing in popular cover group the Pork Tornadoes. “They doing things spanning all the decades but primarily tend to focus on newer stuff,” says Middleton.
The group does not just do straight covers but provide their own personal spin. Their cover of “Tennessee Whiskey” has over five million views on YouTube. “They’ve got great vocals. They perform all the time, so their very tight as a band.” Middleton calls the Pork Tornadoes something “new and different” for the event compared to years past.
As with every event in 2020, Eagle Grove Summerfest was cancelled but Middleton says they a happy they can bring it back for 2021. “It’s just great to be doing stuff again.” In 2020 the Chamber of Commerce felt “really good” about cancelling the event in order to be safe.
The executive director says “it was more important to keep our community safe and it just wasn’t worth the risk to get people together.” Now, especially with an all outdoor event, they feel comfortable putting it on in 2021.
Eagle Grove Summerfest will begin Friday, June 18. The Pork Tornadoes will play the James R. Johnson Stage on Saturday, June 19, from 8-11 pm. Tickets for the concert will be $20 and can be found online at eventbrite.com.
Middleton thanks all of their event sponsors for helping making this event possible. She hopes the community will comes out to enjoy a fun weekend of activities.
More details can be found on Facebook on the Eagle Grove Chamber of Commerce’s page.