For the first time in 49 years there will be no Beardstown Fall Fun Festival due to COVID-19. According to the Cass County Star Gazette, the Fall Fun Festival announced on Tuesday that it was cancelling the event given the county’s high risk status for the spread of COVID-19. Cass County currently has the highest COVID-19 positivity rate per capita in the State of Illinois with over 2,300 cases per 100,000 people.
Tom Schleuter, chair of the committee, told the Gazette that the decision to cancel the festival was a hard one to make because of the 50th anniversary. He said the committee did not want to have the risk of someone catching the virus at the festival and potentially get sick or possibly die. He said it was something the committee did not wish to have on their conscience.
Schleuter wished to thank all of the sponsors who had helped the committee plan for this year and wanted to emphasize that the committee and the sponsors were not out any money due to the cancellation of the event. Schleuter says that all contracts that were signed for this year’s festival would be honored in 2021.