It's an annual festival that has been going on for about 40 years and it's being cancelled this year. The International Eelpout Festival was scheduled for Feb 20-23. The International Eelpout Festival brings in about 10,000 people every year. The three day festival is known for a fishing competition, fish fry, polar plunge, sled dog rides, and everyone's favorite a huge beer pong tournament.
According to Bring Me The News, the announcement was made today, and the reason for cancelling the festival is because of a disagreement with the county on how to properly enforce rules on Leech Lake as festival attendance continues to grow. The International Eelpout Festival did release a statement on their Facebook regarding the cancellation.