Heritage Days Festival 2024
The 36th Annual Heritage Days Festival, Mount Vernon’s biggest summer festival, will take place Friday and Saturday, July 12 and 13, with a theme of “Rock ‘n’ 80s!”
The event will be produced by the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group (CDG) in partnership with the Lester Buresh Community Wellness Center, the Mount Vernon Alumni Association, the Mount Vernon Community School District, the City of Mount Vernon and several other local organizations.
Highlights of the two-day festival will include a beer garden, street-party, carnival games, a parade, a bags tournament, car show and the Memorial Park Family Fun Zone, a Fairy Tale-themed attraction for kids. New this year will be a Drone Show taking place at the new Martha Parsons Activities Center (MAC – MV Football Field), 731 Palisades Rd SW, on Friday, July 12, at dark.
“We are going a different way with our Friday night events this year,” said Bridget O’Connor, Chair of the Heritage Days Committee. “Not only will we offer food, games, fun and music at the Lester Buresh Community Wellness Center beginning at 5 p.m., but we will add a Drone Show into the nearby Martha Parsons Activities Center – we hope everyone will come out and celebrate Mount Vernon summer fun with us.”
The event starts Friday, July 12, at the Lester Buresh Community Family Wellness Center, 855 Palisades Road SW, Mount Vernon. The event goes from 5 p.m. to dark with inflatables, games, food trucks and live music. The Mount Vernon Bank Kids Fun Run will take place at 5:30 p.m. at the MAC. At dark, the party will move to the MAC, 731 Palisades Rd SW, for a live Drone Show.
NOTE: No alcohol is allowed on the MAC grounds and no chairs or food will be allowed on the football field or track – blankets are encouraged on the grassy area near the bleachers.
Saturday, July 13, starts off at 8 a.m. with an Alumni Breakfast at the Mount Vernon High School Commons, 731 Palisades Road SW, from 8 to 10 a.m. The parade will take place at 10:30 a.m. following the breakfast. This year’s parade theme is “Rock ‘n’ 80s,” and lineup begins at 9:30 a.m. at Cornell’s Small Athletic and Wellness Center, 835 1st St W, Mt Vernon, IA. The parade will feature parade Grand Marshalls Rebecca Conrad and Jackson Bartlett, both recipients of the CCDG Heritage Days volunteerism/scholarship award.
NOTE: There will be no parade parking at the lineup location. Spectator parking is available on City streets south of 1st Street.
Uptown activities will begin immediately after the parade along 1st Street East and West (start time is approximately 11 a.m.) These events include a Car Show, carnival games, Family Fun Zone, food vendors, a beer tent, live music and a street dance led by headliner Slap ‘N’ Tickle starting at 8 p.m.
A complete Heritage Days schedule is available here:
A food vendor application is available here:
About Mount Vernon
Historic Mount Vernon, Iowa, is the home to 4500 residents, including 1200 college students enrolled at Cornell College. Located in Eastern Iowa at the intersection of Highways 30 and 1, 20 miles north of Iowa City and 15 miles east of Cedar Rapids, it boasts a vibrant uptown business community with numerous antique and specialty stores, restaurants, coffee houses, art galleries, and three National Historic Districts.
About the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group
The Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group exists to improve the social and economic well-being of Mount Vernon and Lisbon by capitalizing on their unique identity, assets and character. Mount Vernon was selected as a Main Street community in 2008, and practices economic development within the context of historic preservation.
More information is available at www.visitmvl.com
About Main Street
The Main Street Approach is a copyrighted process of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Program has been used in Iowa since 1986 with a total of 56 communities having participated. Mount Vernon was selected as a Main Street community on March 4, 2008, by the State of Iowa, after submitting a comprehensive application and presenting it to a select board of reviewers.
