Swedish Days Festival Scrapped By Geneva Chamber

GENEVA, IL — The Geneva Chamber of Commerce has called off its signature Swedish Days Festival in response to the outbreak of the new coronavirus in Illinois. The event was scheduled to take place from June 23-28, but the chamber is now looking at ways to hold smaller events later this year. This will be Geneva's first year without the Swedish Days Festival since the event’s inception almost 70 years ago.

Chamber President Paula Schmidt said the chamber’s board made the “difficult” decision to scrap the festival two months before its start to give organizers and vendors time to finalize details of the cancellation.

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“Everyone has been very understanding and appreciative. We are definitely all in this together,” Schmidt said in a news release. “Our greatest assets are our people in Geneva and around Geneva. We must keep them healthy and safe.”

Laura Rush, the chamber’s communications manager, said officials are “exploring options to schedule other, smaller events throughout the summer and will try to incorporate favorite elements from Swedish Days into those events.”

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