RIVER FALLS – Folks looking forward to River Falls’ annual Bluegrass, Bourbon & Brews festival will have to wait until 2022 to get their fix.

At the May River Falls Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau virtual coffee event, Chamber Executive Director Russ Korpela announced the event, which had been scheduled for later this spring, has been postponed to April 22-24, 2022.

“We ran out of time to plan a quality event,” Korpela said, due to waiting to see what COVID protocols would look like.

On the event website (www.riverfallsbluegrass. com), the following message is posted: “After it became clear that hosting Bluegrass, Bourbon & Brews at indoor venues did not meet local COVID-19 safety protocols, we focused our efforts on an outdoor event over Memorial Day weekend. We proceeded with hold an outdoor version of the event. While we found a logistical pathway to safely host the event outdoors, we decided after careful analysis to make the difficult decision to cancel Bluegrass, Bourbon & Brews for 2021.

“We simply ran out of time to produce the event with the quality standards we know go into a well-run festival. In the end, we do not want to damage the long-term reputation of the event by hosting a poorly run festival.

“In addition, we are also guided by the safety of our staff, volunteers, and guests. We are so excited about the future of this event and can now focus our energies on re-building an event that we can all be proud of. We look forward to seeing you April 22-24, 2022 to enjoy new venues, great craft beverages, and the very best in live music.”

Chamber Event & Program Manager Marissa Bazey told the coffee group that the chamber staff is going to switch gears and focus their energy on River Falls Days, to be held July 15-18. She told people they can look forward to a reverse walk-through parade, fireworks, and much more.

The chamber website details this year’s theme, which is “The Future is Bright,” which celebrates better days ahead.

“As the weather warms up and more people get vaccinated, the light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter every day,” the website reads. The River Falls Chamber of Commerce believes that our community is positioned for a bright future ahead. We are celebrating that optimism by incorporating the theme ‘The Future is Bright’ into many of our events and programs this year.”

Bazey said the chamber is working with Pierce County Public health to make River Falls Days an in-person event for 2021, focusing on safety for festival attendees, volunteers and staff.

Stay tuned for more details, which will be posted at rfchamber.com

initial planning as we waited for more clarity from public health officials on our ability to