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GROVES — The Groves Pecan Festival and its supporting events are slated for the fall, according to the city’s chamber of commerce.

The festival, which was canceled last year, is set to take place Nov. 4-7.

The chamber’s executive manager Ronnie Boneau said the board made the decision to move forward with the festival shortly after Governor Greg Abbott announced the state was rolling back all coronavirus restrictions.

“We are very excited about it,” Boneau said. “There is a lot of work to do but we are ready. This was almost like starting over. We are working to put the key ingredients together first and then we will work on the other things.”

Signup for the pageant will begin May 3 and run through July 15.

The pageant will be held Sept. 18 followed by the festival parade a week later.

Boneau said the festival, which was once at the end of October, was moved to the beginning of November due to scheduling conflicts with the carnival.

“You might have a date you like, but it has to work for the carnival, too,” he said. “In our case, the carnival we use couldn’t be here then. They will be here the first week of November, which is the opening to hunting season. The week before, when we used to have it, is kid’s opening hunting season. You can almost never have it when no one is not doing something.”

The parade that accompanies the festival will take place Sept. 25.

Boneau said the treasure hunt will take place the week of the festival.

“There are other things that are going on,” he said. “We are trying to get the big things confirmed before we really start planning everything else. Things are coming together. I am very pleased with the help and the volunteers. They have been outstanding. It is weird, given that we had a big delay from COVID, that it is coming together better than it has before. We are hoping that will continue with participation in the pageant and participation, by not only Groves residents, to come to the festival.”