William Kent Kruger, best known for his novel, "Ordinary Grace," and his book series following Cork O'Connor, had been to Perham before, but this was the first time he was able to stop and see the community for an extended period.
2021's Turtle Fest will be kicking off on Wednesday, June 16, with the turtle races at 10 a.m. Several new events will also be offered this year along with the festival's traditional events, such as the parade and half marathon.
This year not every Turtle Fest event could take place as usual. Many events either had to be scaled back, adapted, changed, or called off altogether this year.
In place of the traditional Turtle Fest parade, Turtle Fest 2.0 held a fireworks display at the fairgrounds on Friday night. Festival goes turned out at the fairgrounds and at other locations in town to watch the 10 p.m. display.
Normally Perham’s summer Turtle Fest would block off about three streets to feature a variety of social events, music, turtle races, and the Turtle Fest parade
With limitations surrounding public gatherings, this year's Turtle Fest June 17-21 will be proceeding with modifications, according to a Perham Area Chamber of Commerce news release.
