Lake Wales Cancels 2020 Pioneer Days Festival

With regard to the health environment in Polk County, the Lake Wales History Museum has cancelled the Pioneer Days Festival, originally scheduled to take place on October 24 & 25, 2020. The health and safety of our community is first and foremost, and due to the national and local concern regarding coronavirus, hosting a large scale event of this proportion is not possible this year.

The Pioneer Days Festival encourages engagement with vendors, historical demonstrators, food vendors, friends and family, and we look forward to next year when the quality interaction with our community is more safe and as our festival was intended to be. Please save the date of October 23 & 24, 2021, when we will celebrate our 45th year of hosting the Pioneer Days Festival.

We understand this affects our sponsors, vendors, artists, and support services in the community that rely on the business Pioneer Days Festival attracts. The museum offers its condolences to those affected by COVID-19 in our city, and all around the world. It is an unprecedented time in our current history, and we are working to capture our community's experience. We are working on a new series of virtual offerings, which we hope the community will enjoy in lieu of the festival. The museum will share more about these opportunities soon.

At this time the Lake Wales History Museum remains closed as the City of Lake Wales is still under a state of emergency, and we are using every precaution possible to keep our staff and constituents safe at this time. We continue to work hard on preserving Lake Wales history and are committed sharing our heritage in the future.

#LakeWalesStrong

To capture our current history and spread hope of brighter days, the public is invited to share your story of resilience and kindness in the community, and we'll share that with others. The museum wants to hear about our brave healthcare workers, nice things you or your neighbors have done, and other stories you have experienced and witnessed in our community. Visit to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZZH2H5W to share.