Heartland Days latest celebration to be called off

New Hampton’s biggest celebration of the year won’t take place in 2020 as New Horizons-Chamber announced Wednesday that Heartland Days activities have been canceled.
“We decided for public safety reasons, that this was the right decision to make, even it was a difficult one,” New Horizons Director Jason Speltz said of the celebration that was set for June 12-13. “This wasn’t a decision we could make at the last minute, and I’ll be honest with you, I got a little teary eyed. I mean Heartland Days is such a highlight of our year.”
Speltz said the two bands — The Dweebs and The Vic Ferrari Band — who were scheduled to perform this year have both agreed to return for the 2021 celebration.
And Heartland Days 2021 very well may be the biggest celebration in years.
Numerous class reunions are held during the annual festival, and several classes — 1980 and 2000, for example — had already moved their reunions to 2021.
Speltz said the chamber is hoping to put together a smaller celebration this fall in the downtown area, saying it would be like a “little amped up mini-concert that we used to have.”
He said the 2020 Heartland Days Parade grand marshals — Lisa and Lee Pool, who have been instrumental in the Little Light of Mine project at Mikkelson Park — will lead the parade in 2021.
“We had heavy hearts making this decision,” he said. “We know for groups like the [Chickasaw County] Rescue Squad, Heartland Days is a huge fundraiser and hopefully they can be part of the fall celebration. But public health safety has to come first.”
Heartland Days is the third major Chickasaw County festival to announce either a postponement or cancelation.
Officials with Lawler’s Irish Fest celebration announced earlier this month that the event set for June 19-20 won’t be held in 2020 while Water Over the Dam Days officials announced last week that the Nashua celebration was being postponed from June 26-27 to Aug. 14-15.