Hampshire Coon Creek Country Days canceled

The annual Hampshire Coon Creek Country Days festival that brought thousands of visitors to the village for a long summer weekend will not go on this year.

Rising costs and the challenging economic conditions have forced the event's cancellation after almost three decades, organizers announced Monday.

Scott Almquist, president of the Hampshire Coon Creek Country Days Committee, said the festival was unable to keep up increasing expenses for bands and entertainment, carnival rides, insurance, licensing and beer.

"Just as far as the way the economy is at this point - and the way funds came in last year lower than previous years - we anticipated another lower year than normal," he said. "And getting new bills doesn't help."

One of those new bills was a $500-a-day rental fee imposed by the Hampshire Park District for use of Bruce Ream Memorial Park. That would have cost organizers $4,000 for the eight days from set up to tear down.

The park district, which previously donated its land for the event, introduced the new fee to help overcome its $60,000 budget deficit. Calls to district officials were not immediately returned Monday.

"It wasn't a unanimous vote by the committee," Almquist said. "As president, I feel like I'm letting the community down because it has been around so long. But by no means is this a one-man job; it is a team effort."

Members of the festival committee volunteer and a majority of the festival's funding comes through donations from local businesses and residents. The committee also held a dinner and sold candy to raise money.

"Everything that was generated from the festival was always spent on the festival," Almquist said.

There are no plans to resurrect the festival in the future, Almquist added. Proceeds from the candy sale will now benefit the Burlington-Hampshire Area Food Pantry.

The park district-sponsored 2K and 10K road races that coincided with the festival remain scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 1.