The 2020 Jasper Strassenfest has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The announcement was made in a press release Tuesday afternoon:
A recently formed subcommittee of the Jasper Strassenfest met earlier this week with several local and state officials to determine the fate of the 2020 Jasper Strassenfest. Those providing input at this meeting included Jasper Mayor Dean Vonderheide; Jasper Fire Chief and Code Enforcement Officer Kenny Hochgesang; State Fire Marshall Inspector Carl Deel; Shawn Werner and Dr. Ted Waflart of the Dubois County Health Department; Nanette Parsons of Kunkel Insurance Agency; Chamber of Commerce Executive Director and Strassenfest Committee member Nancy Eckerle, Strassenfest Booth Coordinator Corie Eckerle Schwartz; 2017 & 2018 Strassenfest Chairman Mike Ackerman, 2019 & 2020 Strassenfest Chairperson Kim Lottes and 2021 & 2022 Strassenfest Chairman Bob Bleemel.
After listening to and discussing the comments from the various state, county and city officials, the subcommittee members felt that it would be nearly impossible to follow and enforce state and federal Covid-19 guidelines while still maintaining the region and state-wide reputation, as well as the unique qualities and integrity of the Jasper Strassenfest. Therefore, after weighing everyone’s comments, and a nearly two hour group discussion, the decision was made to cancel the 2020 Jasper Strassenfest. While we know that this will be a major disappointment to a lot of people, the group as a whole felt that this was the right decision to make to protect the health and well-being of not only the citizens of Jasper and Dubois County, but also the many volunteers that operate the various booths and events, as well as thousands of potential out of town visitors.
The decision to cancel was a very difficult decision for the subcommittee to make due to the fact that the Jasper Strassenfest is the largest, and in some cases, the only fundraiser of the year for many of our local, Dubois County non-profit organizations. The Jasper Strassenfest Committee would like to encourage everyone to consider using the money you would have potentially spent at Strassenfest, to make a donation to the organizations whose food and game booths you would have patronized, or whose events you would have competed in. Your donation will go a long way in helping these organizations to be able to continue funding the various local causes which their organizations annually support.
Watch for more information to be provided in the future, as we look forward to welcoming everyone back to an even bigger and better 2021 Jasper Strassenfest, which will be held August 5th through 8th, 2021 in and around downtown Jasper.
