OBSERVER file photo Fredonia’s Farm Festival was canceled last week, but Mayor Michael Ferguson has other ideas.

There is an apparent power struggle over the Fredonia Farm Festival.

Festivals Fredonia’s statement justifying the cancellation for 2024 came two days after Mayor Michael Ferguson said the festival must go on.

The festivals group said in its Wednesday statement it felt the Farm Festival could not be put on “up to the expectations of the community this year.” The full statement was posted on the OBSERVER website Wednesday.

The statement blamed “many factors, including the amount of time needed to plan the festival (over 1,000 hours), the time needed to be on site during the festival itself (12-16 hours/day over the course of four days), and the large amount of planning materials for the current blueprint of the festival.”

The Farm Festival committee chairman, Mark Mackey, stepped down in September 2023, which the statement noted.

“We listened to, discussed, and considered many suggestions and feedback from the community. After lengthy deliberation and debate, we simply felt that in our current state, we would not be able to execute this festival to the standards we are accustomed to executing successful events,” Festivals Fredonia’s statement continued.

“After all, our mission is to contribute to a high quality of life in Fredonia and surrounding communities by presenting lively recreation and cultural opportunities to village and area residents. The festivals stimulate tourism, highlight important aspects of our historic village, provide opportunities for regional artists and musicians, and showcase merchants, regional products and produce. Since we did not believe we could accomplish this with the Farm Festival, we felt the need to back away from hosting the festival in 2024.”

However, Ferguson said Monday at a Board of Trustees meeting that the festival must happen this year.

The mayor began, “The community owns the Farm Festival … it is part of our heritage. This is not an affront to Festivals Fredonia who has done an amazing job on the events they have produced for this community. The volunteers have dedicated their time tirelessly, endlessly for a very long time.”

Ferguson noted Festivals Fredonia “have produced the festival for four years, we appreciate the four years that they have produced the festival. Possibly in the future, they’ll have a chance to do it again — but we cannot go a year without it, for one reason. … You have to understand that for many of these (vendors), it’s a primary business or a secondary source of income for them. They put a lot of time and effort in. If all of a sudden they go to Williamsville for a festival, and that festival becomes more profitable for them, you will never see those vendors again.”

The mayor said he was speaking for himself, not the Board of Trustees, and welcomed any community help in making the Farm Festival happen in 2024.

Ferguson concluded, “I’ve spent three complete sleepless nights on these issues over the last week. I understand some of the reasons why, but there are solutions to it. So we will work together as a community, we will work together with people in the community that want to make this happen, and we will make it happen for our community.”

Ferguson’s comments came in response to statements from Greg Krauza during the public speaking portion of the meeting.

“If any individual or organization, who have done a wonderful job, decides for whatever reason that they no longer want to be a part of it, how do they decide that the entire community does not have the ability to hold the festival, and cancel it?” Krauza said. “Before they do, it would seem there should be an opportunity to keep a 55-year-old tradition honoring our farming roots… I would be happy to be part of a group that at least takes a look at if we have the people and the expertise to try to make this festival happen. I would ask the board to allow that group to exist. If we fail, at least we gave it a shot before it was just cancelled.”

Festivals Fredonia’s statement said, “We would like to make it abundantly clear that our decision to pause the Farm Festival this year was due to time, manpower, and a dwindling pool of volunteers that are all needed to host the Farm Festival to the expectations of our community. We appreciate the outpouring of support and hearing how much all of you love the Farm Festival and we look forward to seeing you at our other festivals this year.

“In fact, Festivals Fredonia welcomes any number of new/former volunteers to organize and execute the festival to the delight of the community. Previously, the Farm Festival and Italian Festival were organized by separate entities until coming under the Festivals Fredonia umbrella, and we would fully support any outside organization or volunteers to host additional festivals in the future.”