HARDEE COUNTY, Fla. — It’s a festival that celebrates Hardee County’s heritage with food, shopping, and music.
The Pioneer Festival has brought families to the Pioneer Village in Zolfo Springs since 1968.
But this year, getting the park ready in time was a bit of a challenge.
“We have had to close off some areas just due to the damage and recovery,” explained Olivia Caitlin Smith, the President of the Board for Visit Hardee.
The damage is the result of what happened five months ago. Rain from Hurricane Ian severely flooded the Peace River. As a result, countless homes and businesses were damaged.
The festival grounds, located along the Peace River, were damaged by flooding too.
“The majority of this property was underwater from the river,” said Smith. “Specifically, four to six feet in some places.”
The damage took months to repair, and some work is still underway.
The park’s main stage, which will host a country music act on Saturday night as part of the festival, was swept away by the flooding but was repaired just days ago.
To Smith, the hard work preparing for the festival is worth it since it is a place for the community to get together and a tourism draw that supplies precious dollars to a county that still needs help.
“It warms my heart,” Smith said.
Lydia Bishop, 15, hopes her festival booth will land some of those dollars because some of its sales will directly benefit SendMeMissions, a local nonprofit that’s been busy since Ian left the county.
The nonprofit has not only coordinated volunteer efforts to clear trees and repair homes, but it’s also been busy finding new homes for those displaced by the severe flooding.
To this day, 95 families still need a place to live. SendMeMissions still needs volunteers too.
“It kind of hurts me to see my community hurting,” said Bishop. “There’s still a lot of people who are still feeling the effects of Ian.”
Volunteer work will continue next week, but this weekend is a chance for Bishop and her fellow volunteers to fundraise and for the community to celebrate togetherness and its resilience after Ian.
The Pioneer Festival runs through Sunday.
