Shipyard Days in Seneca cancelled for 2021

For a second summer in a row, Shipyard Days in Seneca is cancelled.

The event was cancelled because of “the uncertainty of state regulations.”

“Our plan is to come back bigger and better than ever in 2022,” organizers wrote on the event’s Facebook page.

The Seneca Shipyard Days Festival is an annual festival scheduled in June that celebrates Seneca’s role in World War II as home to the “Shipyard on the Prairie” manufacturing LSTs (Land Ship Tanks) for the war effort. During this period Seneca’s population grew and the townspeople celebrate those that worked for the shipyards and helped with the war effort each year with fireworks, historical education, live bands, Taste of Seneca food booths, a beer garden and a carnival.

The event draws hundreds as downtown streets close for the carnival, live entertainment and vendors to set up.

Some community festivals will continue in neighboring communities, such as the Illinois Motorcycle Freedom Run in Marseilles, the Food Truck Festival in Streator and a revamped wine festival in Ottawa. It still is undetermined whether the Freedom Fest, which follows the Freedom Run in Marseilles, will take place.