Note: The following item was provided by the Polk County Chamber of Commerce for publication. – KtE

Due to unprecedented numbers of COVID-19 positive patients throughout the region, the Polk County Chamber of Commerce has made the difficult decision to postpone the 2021 Homespun Festival, originally scheduled for Saturday, October 2, 2021.

“This was a difficult decision to make because we know how important Homespun is to Polk County,” said Dan Bevels, Polk Chamber Board Chair. “Our top priority, though, has to be the safety of our community and that’s not a guarantee we could make, given current conditions.”

The Homespun Festival has been a staple in Rockmart for more than forty years. This year’s event had been moved to the fall and was considered a relaunch of the longtime gathering.

“Our goal this year had been for the festival to be a showcase for local businesses,” said Marianne Wood, Executive Director of the Polk Chamber of Commerce. “Now, we’ll get to work on building an even better event once we’re able to safely welcome the community.”

Frankie Matthews, Vice Chair for the Chamber Board, expressed gratitude for the support offered by the city of Rockmart.

“City Manager Stacey Smith and her team has been excellent to work with,” he said. “They bent over backward to make sure we had everything we needed to create a great downtown experience. Unfortunately, the risk eventually outweighed our excitement.”

Wood said the Chamber will now set their sights on making the 2022 festival the best ever.

“We want Homespun to truly be a marquis event for the entire region and something that spotlights everything great about Polk County,” she said. “This just gives us more time to make that happen.”