The Des Moines Symphony announced today that its Yankee Doodle Pops and Water Works Pops concerts, which had previously been postponed to Labor Day weekend, will be cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis.

The cancelled concerts include:

  • Aretha: A Tribute – Sat Sep 5
  • Family Concert: Postcards from the Americas – Sun Sep 6
  • Yankee Doodle Pops – Mon Sep 7

“After much deliberation, we have come to the conclusion that we cannot reliably ensure safety of our audiences or our musicians onstage at Water Works Park without making major changes to our planned programming which would severely diminish the musical impact of these concerts,” said Executive Director Richard Early. “We are grateful to the Water Works Park Foundation Board for their vision and creation of this new outdoor concert venue, and we look forward to resuming these free summer concerts for the Central Iowa community in 2021.”

The Des Moines Symphony’s Yankee Doodle Pops will return to the Iowa State Capitol next summer; the concert will be performed on Friday, July 2 2021. Programs and dates for the Symphony’s 2021 Water Works Pops Concerts will be announced at a later date.