Kalona businesses would normally be hard at work this time of year preparing treats, brochures, and signs for their stand at the Iowa State Fair, but this year that isn’t the case.  Annually Kalona has a booth at the fair to promote the town and what it has to offer. Earlier this summer the cancellation of the 2020 Iowa State Fair was announced. Kalona Historical Society Managing Director Nancy Roth believes this year has been difficult for many businesses in Kalona, but something surprised her. Even without the state fair, individuals from across the state have come to visit the historical village to see what Kalona has to offer, “A lot of people within the state are looking for places to visit in their own state this year. So, being part of the historical village I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the traffic that we had come through here since we opened up on June 1. It’s a lot of people that aren’t from very far away that have never been here before. Somehow they’re finding us even though we did not have the fair. It may not be the traffic that we normally would have had, but I think it’s better than what most of us anticipated.”

While fair-goers will have to wait another year to enjoy some Kalona baked goods, or brews,  or chocolates, Roth says shopping locally can keep Kalona’s small businesses open and give them the ability to return to next year’s state fair, “I know Washington has an awesome community where they do all support their locals. I think that needs to kind of spread into the Kalona area. That would help out immensely. So shop local, there’s a lot of great shops in the area. We’ve got great restaurants here, so come and spend an evening eating some dinner here. But I know a lot of those little shop owners would definitely appreciate you to come in and spend the day in Kalona and spend some money with them.” The Kalona Historical Village is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Visitors to the historical village will learn about the local history, can buy popular Kalona-made items, and experience firsthand what Kalona has to offer.