Crystal Lake's annual Lakeside Festival postponed until fall

Crystal Lake’s 2020 Lakeside Festival has been postponed until September or early October because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lakeside Legacy Foundation Board of Directors announced Friday.

The 41st annual Lakeside Festival, which is The Dole Mansion’s biggest fundraiser of the year, originally was set for July 2-5.

According to a news release, the decision to postpone the festival was reached after the board reviewed Gov. JB Pritzker’s recent health guidelines. The festival’s planning committee receives regular updates and information from local and state authorities for future scenarios to ensure the early and thorough addressing of all health and safety concerns regarding a large-scale public outdoor event, according to the release.

“We are obviously very disappointed to announce the postponement of the 2020 Lakeside Festival. As much as we were looking forward to this fun family event, we must remain vigilant and focused on the safety and well-being of our community and take measures to reduce the spread of this pandemic,” said Lakeside Festival co-chairman Ron Russell. “I look forward to a time we can come together as a community again and celebrate.”

Proceeds from the festival help support the preservation of the 155-year-old Dole Mansion along with ongoing community art events and programs.

“Given the fact that our event gathers nearly 50,000 patrons and we have hundreds of volunteers and production staff, it’s absolutely the right thing to do,” Nancy Merkling and Janet Kay, co-executive directors of The Dole, said in a statement. “Postponing the event is the right thing to do in the interest of public health. We will continue to monitor the situation and hope for an opportunity to host a communitywide event in a few months. We appreciate the public’s patience and understanding.”

People can check the website www.thedole.org for updates.