The 41st Annual Adel Sweet Corn Festival is one of many summer events whose status is up in the air due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adel Partners Chamber of Commerce Director Deb Bengtson says she’s set a hard deadline for a decision at the beginning of June, because any later than that and she wouldn’t have enough time to plan the affair. The festival is held each August around the same time as the Iowa State Fair – which is also a question mark at this point – and it routinely draws over 10,000 guests to downtown Adel. Bengtson says given those numbers, even the most optimistic of projections for allowing public gatherings doesn’t bode well for the celebration.

At this point, Bengston is advising vendors who haven’t already registered to wait until the final decision is made. In spite of the uncertainty surrounding the festival, Bengtson says they will still host the annual Sweet Corn 5K Run regardless. The difference would be that it would be held virtually, with people running on their own and submitting their times to the Chamber. Bengtson also says they will still have Sweet Corn Festival t-shirts and other merchandise for sale, and she unveiled a coronavirus-themed design at the recent Adel City Council meeting. If the festival happens, it will be held Friday, August 7th and Saturday, August 8th.