Several Boalsburg Memorial Day Events, Fire Company Carnival Canceled for Second Consecutive Year

Several traditional Memorial Day weekend events in Boalsburg will not take place for the second year in a row.

The Boalsburg Fire Company’s five-day carnival and Saturday parade as well as the Day in Town celebration on Memorial Day have been canceled, organizers announced on Monday night.

The Boalsburg Village Conservancy is planning to hold a service at 6 p.m. on Memorial Day at the cemetery, with limited public attendance and a live stream.

After being canceled last year, the Memorial Day 5K race will return with COVID-19 safety protocols in place.

More information on both events will be released in the coming days, according to a post on the conservancy’s Facebook page.

The conservancy is hoping to hold an event in October to commemorate the village’s first Memorial Day, which occurred in October 1864. On that day, three women — Emma Hunter, Sophie Keller, and Elizabeth Myers — decorated the graves of soldiers in the cemetery, beginning a tradition and the start of Boalsburg’s claim as the birthplace of Memorial Day.

The fire company’s carnival dates back to the 1960s and typically generates about $20,000 to $25,000 each year for the volunteer organization.

Boalsburg’s Memorial Day activities join the list of Centre County spring and summer events that are canceled for the second year in a row. The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in State College will not hold inperson events this year. Philipsburg Heritage Days and the People’s Choice Festival in Boalsburg also are canceled for 2021.