BORDEN, Ind. (WDRB) — Flooding from heavy rain in southern Indiana has forced organizers to cancel this year's Star Valley Strawberry Festival in Borden.
Rain moved through the area Tuesday, leaving Borden Community Park underwater just days before the annual festival was set to begin Saturday.
"You get videos and there's two feet of water and it looks like the amphitheater is a castle with a moat around it," said festival chairperson Brenna LaDuke.
The organizers made the decision to cancel the event Tuesday afternoon.
The water has since gone down, but with more rain in the forecast, organizers didn't want to put people at risk.
Organizers said the park grounds remain too wet, and the creek running through the park is also too high, creating safety concerns because of the children that often play in the water during the festival.
"For the safety of everyone, everybody coming to the festival, everybody participating the festival we couldn't have the issues to where somebody could get hurt," LaDuke said.
The cancellation is also impacting local businesses in Borden that participate as vendors at the event.
Jennifer Rolph, manager of My Cup Runneth Over Coffee, said the loss of the festival is a setback, though many still plan to sell strawberry-themed items.
"Most of the businesses here were going to be there and they've already bought all their stock and stuff," Rolph said. "I know some businesses will still try to sell stuff, but I don't think they'll get the traffic they were going to."
The town has a history of past flooding issues. In 1961, there was a flood that wiped out the town. Five lakes were subsequently built for flood control.
"If those lakes had not been in the other night, with this rain falling as quickly as it did, I think Borden would've been wiped out again," said Borden Community Park committee member Les Wright.
Wright and others have been working on bringing another lake to Borden for around 15 years.
"We're hoping to do something about this flooding even more than what we have," he said.
The roughly 30,000 strawberries already headed to Borden will still be sold in town at the former Family Dollar building at the intersection of West and Water streets.
Until then, the place once known as the strawberry capital of the United States will wait to host the festival again in 2027.
"It's heartbreaking," LaDuke said. "But we'll move forward and we'll just be bigger and better next year."
Copyright 2026 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
