Vendor booths line Barker Common during last year’s Farm Festival event.

There will not be a 56th Fredonia Farm Festival — at least for this summer.

According to the Festivals Fredonia website, the 2024 version of the downtown event that takes place in late August in Barker Common has been canceled. The site does note that there are plans being made for the 2025 edition.

Earlier this week, the village Planning Board met and discussed a contentious issue related to the Festival: the vendor and peddlers law. Plans last year to increase fees related to this ordinance were met with serious reservations from many volunteers who head up the festivals.

Other concerns about the Farm Festival’s future came to light last July when Mark Mackey, then-chairman, announced he would no longer be heading a committee for the event. Even village leaders seemed to have doubts about this year when approving a schedule of events for the Festivals Fredonia organization. At that January meeting, it was noted the Farm Fest date was to be announced.

Festivals Fredonia has a mission to promote a high quality of life in Fredonia and surrounding communities by presenting lively recreation and cultural opportunities to village and area residents. The core festivals stimulate tourism, highlight important aspects of our historic village, provide opportunities for regional artists and musicians, and showcase merchants, regional products and produce. Its major events for this year include an Easter festival, Festival Italia, Red, White and Blues, Harvest Moon Festival and Tours and Miracle on Main Street

Mackey, who chaired the Farm Festival for seven years, said he was tired of pushback from Fredonia officials on various issues. “I’m tired of fighting. Every year it’s been something different,” he said during a recent interview. “I spend more time than I should at these trustee meetings and I just don’t want to do it anymore.”

He continued, “Last year is when I really started to keep track of my hours and how much I’m volunteering. I put in 1,087 hours of volunteer time to the Farm Festival (in 2022). This year I’m over 750 (hours) already. People think I get paid for this, and I don’t. It’s all volunteer.”

Last year’s Farm Festival was the 55th edition. It began as a Fredonia Family Picnic in 1969 by groups and individuals who had a strong sense of what it meant to be connected to the community. Some of those founders, including the Aldrich and Fowler families as well as Richard Whipple Jr., were tied to the event for years.