Jasper Strassenfest committee launches patriotic home decorating contest

Jasper residents have until June 26, 2026, to enter a Patriotic Home Decorating Contest that will wrap the city’s front yards, porches and exterior spaces into the run-up to the 48th Annual Jasper Strassenfest. The contest is open to homes inside Jasper city limits and calls for red, white and blue displays tied to the 2026 festival theme, Threads of History, Patterns of Progress.

The Jasper Strassenfest Committee is using the contest as an early invitation to take part in the city’s summer festival season before the downtown celebration begins July 30 and runs through Aug. 2, 2026. Organizers want the displays to be visible from the street and accessible to ordinary households, with room for both classic patriotic decorations and more whimsical approaches. The goal is less about a formal competition and more about putting neighborhood participation on display ahead of one of Jasper’s signature events.

That festival theme carries beyond the decorating contest. The committee has said Threads of History, Patterns of Progress will be reflected in the 2026 button design and in special events and activities leading up to and throughout the weekend. The theme also connects Strassenfest to America’s 250th birthday, making the home-decorating contest part of Jasper’s broader civic commemoration of the nation’s semiquincentennial.

The 2026 Strassenfest will take place in downtown Jasper and will again draw on the festival’s German-inspired identity. Visit Dubois County describes the event as a street festival with live entertainment on three downtown stages, polka, lederhosen, hot air balloons, food, games, contests, carnival rides and more. The Dubois County chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will serve as Hofmarschall for the 2026 festival.

Corie Eckerle is serving her second year as Strassenfest chairman. The home decorating contest fits a broader effort to build momentum before the festival weekend and to keep the Strassenfest visible in Jasper long before the first stage opens downtown. It also dovetails with other Dubois County America 250 programming already planned for 2026, including a June 14 musical celebration at the Dubois County Museum.