OLD FORT, NC – Because of the rising number of reported cases, hospitalizations, and deaths due to COVID-19, the Mountain Gateway Museum & Heritage Center and the Old Fort Ruritan Club have canceled their combined Octoberfest-Pioneer Day festival set for Saturday, October 2, 2021, on the museum’s grounds in Old Fort. The museum’s Conservation Assistance Day, featuring artifact conservators from the NC Museum of History in Raleigh and planned as part of the festival, also has been canceled but will be rescheduled for a later date. The museum currently plans to host its 36th Annual Pioneer Day festival next spring on Saturday, April 30, 2022, if the Coronavirus has abated by then. The Old Fort Ruritan Club plans to resume its long-running Octoberfest event in the fall of 2022.