At the Monday, June 15 meeting, the Elk River City Council decided to cancel Elk RiverFest 2020 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Months of planning and preparation is required to execute a community festival of this scale. While the idea of postponing the event was considered, uncertainty surrounding where Minnesota will be later this summer in regard to group gathering limitations and other state-mandated health and safety guidelines, the council felt it was in the best interest of staff, vendors, and residents to cancel Elk RiverFest this year.
Fireworks will go on as planned on Saturday, July 4 launched from Elk River High School starting at dusk.
Elk River’s popular Riverfront Concert Series was also discussed at the meeting. In May, they decided to cancel the concerts through June and reevaluate the situation before deciding on the July/August concerts. Under Emergency Executive Order 20-74, all gatherings are limited to 250 people or less. Historically, the concerts have drawn significantly more, and there are also numerous unavoidable social distancing challenges at Rivers Edge Commons Park. Based on those and other factors, The Council decided to cancel the concerts through July 23. Staff will continue to monitor the recommendations by the Minnesota Department of Health, Governor Walz, as well as explore other venue options in hopes of finding a site to host weekly outdoor concerts later this summer.