Longtime Fort Wayne festival seeking financing help through crowdfunding
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The largest festival in Fort Wayne is danger of filing for bankruptcy if it doesn’t raise enough money in the next week.
Our partners at WPTA-TV report the Three Rivers Festival may be forced to shut down if organizers can’t get the event back on the correct financial path.
Keri Roby, director of operations for the festival, said a crowdfunding campaign has been launched to raise $450,000. The organization needs to raise $300,000 by Feb. 10 to avoid bankruptcy, and the remainder would be used to start planning the 2025 festival.
Roby told WPTA the festival’s challenges started more than a year ago—largely due to the relocation of Junk Food Alley due to construction in the area—and last year’s event failed to live up to expectations.
“We normally get somewhere in the realm of 350,000 attendees for our festival, and I think they calculated we had about 190,000 [last] year,” she said. “Under the plaza, we needed 800 people per night just to break even, and we had an average of about 485.”
On its crowdfunding page, the festival said several other steps are being taken to reduce expenses:
- Elimination of Payroll Expenses: The festival will now be fully volunteer-run to reduce overhead costs.
- Elimination of Office Rental Expenses: Transitioning to a remote/virtual administrative model cuts significant operational costs.
- Decrease in Marketing Expenditures: Streamlined efforts focus on digital outreach and community partnerships.
- Entertainment Expenses Aligned to Break-Even: Talent bookings will match anticipated revenues, ensuring no cost overruns.
- Decrease in Professional Expenses (Electricians, Promoters, and others): Strategically planned setups and scheduling will reduce service costs.
Roby added that if the 2025 event happens, there will likely be cuts to some attractions.
“For the most part, we’re trying to keep all the favorites–Art in the Park, the parade, Children’s Fest, International Village–those staples you’ll still see at the festival,” she told WPTA.
The crowdfunding effort has raised just $965 as of 12:30 p.m. on Monday.