Luxembourg Fest suspends in-person events

The board of the Luxembourg American Cultural Society, in response to safety concerns at large-scale events, has decided to suspend all in-person activities relating to the 34th annual Luxembourg Fest, set for Aug. 6 to 9.

Many of the weekend activities that were planned to take place in Belgium’s Community Park will be rescheduled for the weekend of August 13 to 15, 2021, including the parade, live music, car show, Luxembourg street market, kids zone, Ansay International’s “Taste of Luxembourg,” World’s Largest Treipen Contest, Vern Arendt photo ID station, and other activities.  The headlining act, Star Six Nine, has already been rebooked for 2021, according to a release from the society.

“We plan to take advantage of having additional time to plan our 2021 Luxembourg Fest to ensure we burst out of the gates with a fest that is bigger and better than ever before,” LACS Operations Director Sara Jacoby said.

Luxembourg Fest Week events that were originally slated to occur at Sheboygan’s Blue Harbor Conference Center and Resort will be individually rescheduled.  

In lieu of the annual Green Heart Gala, which is the LACS’s only annual fundraising event, the Luxembourg American Cultural Society has teamed up with a popular Luxembourg band for “Live from Luxembourg: Featuring the Music of Luxembourg’s Zero Point Five” — a virtual benefit concert to premiere via www.lacs.lu and the LACS’s YouTube channel on Luxembourg’s National Day — at 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 23.

The society is accepting sponsors for this virtual concert, and will be offering National Day party kits to help people celebrate while listening to the concert. 

“During this isolating time, it is more important than ever to create a sense of community, and what better way to bring people together than through music,” Executive Director Patricia Lutz said.

“We also hope that this concert will serve as a preview for next year’s Luxembourg Fest, as we are keeping our fingers crossed for Zero Point Five to join us for our 2021 Fest.”

This year’s Cultural Conference, “Votes for Women — Celebrating 100+ Years of Universal Suffrage in Luxembourg and America,” will be held as a webinar Aug. 6 and 7.

The annual membership meeting will be rescheduled. 

In addition, the LACS has suspended all large-group in-person events for summer, including the July 10 Luxembourg beer and wine garden, which was to feature music by Ryan McIntyre. The first event on its revised schedule is a Luxembourg beer and wine garden, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12, with music by Tonic Roots.

The Luxembourg American Cultural Center, 100 Peter Thein Ave., Belgium, plans to reopen June 1.

  Its Roots & Leaves Museum will be open to small groups by appointment Monday, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with social distancing and sanitization processes in place. Its Dooley-Wager Research Center, the largest research library for Luxembourg genealogy and studies in North America, will remain closed to the public, but offers research services for $20 per hour.