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The threat of the spread of COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in the cancellation of another annual festival in the city of Allentown.
The 40th Annual Roasting Ears of Corn Festival scheduled for August 15 and 16, 2020 in Lehigh Parkway has been cancelled due to crowd size restrictions.
The Roasting Ears of Corn Festival is an annual event that draws thousands together to celebrate Native American culture, music and dance.
The 2020 festival was set to be a big event with Grammy Award winning Native American artist, Joanne Shenandoah performing and plenty of other entertainment, craft and jewelry vendors, including cultural and lifeways demonstrations and traditional foods.
The decision to postpone the festival until August 21 and 22, 2021 was hard for the Museum of Indian Culture’s board of directors. Due to the current CDC guidelines as well as the state’s reopening phases, the museum had to take precautions to postpone the event until 2021 to allow for the safety of the patrons, performers, vendors, volunteers, and staff.
Mayor Ray O’Connell said, “We enjoy celebrating our diversity in Allentown with cultural festivals, but unfortunately the effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 has made a victim out of many of those events. I join the organizers of the Roasting Ears of Corn Festival in praying that all restrictions will be lifted, and the 2021 celebration will be bigger and better than ever.”
Even in the so-called “green” phase of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s reopening, crowd sizes cannot exceed more than 250 persons.
The public is invited to show its support by attending the Native American Artifact Show and Book Sale on August 15, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. It is held on the grounds of the Museum of Indian Culture at 2825 Fish Hatchery Road, Allentown, PA. 18103. Please check the museum’s website for late summer and fall events at www.museumofindianculture.org.
Information provided to TVL by:
KAREN A. LORE
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY TO THE MAYOR
435 Hamilton Street
Allentown, PA 18101
http://www.AllentownPA.gov
