Heritage Fair: To do or not to do?

 After several years of struggling with horrible weather, the aftermath of COVID, fewer (and aging) volunteers and decreased attendance, Heritage Fair organizers announced earlier this month they have decided to call it quits. The three-day festival that debuted in 1976 to celebrate the nation’s bicentennial would die two events shy of celebrating the semiquincentennial next summer.

I’m sure the volunteer staff did not make that decision lightly. But sometimes, the writing is on the wall and it just needs to be read. The fair doesn’t just happen overnight. Organizing, planning, scheduling, recruiting, obtaining legal advice, entertainment contracts, electrical upgrades, equipment rentals, outreach to local organizations and businesses — all of this takes place pretty much around the calendar. 

In a good year, the fair makes enough to bank some cash to use as seed money the following year. In years of devastating weather (which seems to be an automatic given of late) and other calamities, the decreased income puts the event in a financial hole for the next year.

Heritage Park all dressed up for the fair.
Photo courtesy of Dundalk Heritage Fair Association Facebook page.

Volunteers play a huge role in staging the fair, from erecting fences, staffing ticket booths and manning phones to emptying trash cans, troubleshooting problems and providing eyes and ears in all corners of Heritage Park.

Every year, the committee puts out the call for volunteers and requests donations from individuals and businesses alike. Every penny helps, and $5 donations are just as appreciated as the big corporate bucks. And every year, it gets harder and harder to get volunteers to commit to the tough behind-the-scenes work required to stage a production as complicated as Heritage Fair. Many of the “young” volunteers are in their 50s, while any originals still involved are much older.

When I wrote for The Dundalk Eagle, we routinely published stories detailing the intricacies of staging the event. We usually highlighted the fencing crew, a group of guys who took a week of their vacation time to dig post holes and run chain-link fencing around the perimeter of Heritage Park. Much of the work involved in staging the festival is far from glamorous. Folks volunteer from the heart and not for accolades.

So this year, after several years of literally getting washed out by torrential thunderstorms, the committee made the painful decision to pull the plug.

And in somewhat predictable behavior, Greater Dundalk keyboard warriors clutched their collective pearls and cried out about the proposed demise. They chimed in with comments like “Why didn’t they ask for help first?” “Why wait until so late to ask for help?” “Why weren’t we told?” “Why are we just finding out about this?"

You get the picture. A few people took it even further, with one guy basically proclaiming himself the leader of a new effort to stage the festival so the community wouldn’t lose such an important landmark event. Several people took it upon themselves to solicit donations, arrange fundraisers and ask for suggestions for a new event. These people were going to go to the county executive and the county councilman to demand this not be canceled, not realizing, of course, that the fair, while it depends on some county services and utilizes a county park and school property, is not a government function.

Seeing the level of renewed, potential volunteer interest, fair organizers set up a community meeting to communicate needs, gauge interest and discuss the possibility of keeping the event alive. Executive director Mark Krysiak published a notice that was shared extensively on social media, and lots of people said they would be there.

The meeting was held April 17. That afternoon, the excuses began to roll in on social media. Citing one reason or another, many of the more vocal residents weren’t going to be able to attend after all. Would it be live-streamed? Would it be taped?

On April 18, committee members posted about the meeting and said that, while attendance wasn’t what they were expecting, based on online chatter, it was a start. The message essentially is that if $20,000 can be raised in the next week, they’ll give it a go.

But the keyboard warriors went at it again, full of suggestions that just show they have no idea how expensive it is to run such an event. One poster said there should be no entry fee and carnival rides should be free. One guy just doesn’t understand why, if $20,000 is raised by the community, anyone should have to pay to get in. The $20K should cover everything, he said.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say $20K might pay the electric bill. Or maybe the portable toilet bill. Again, just guessing, but I’d say the overall budget for the fair as it has existed in the past is well north of $200,000. I won’t bore you with the list of obvious and not-so-obvious expenses, but anyone with experience mounting large-scale special events is smiling and nodding their heads right now.

Online suggestions (again, from people who didn’t attend the meeting) were along the lines of more, more, more, while not wanting to pay for anything. Bring back the crafter tents, have more and better carnival rides, offer more games and activities for kids, lower food prices (which is totally out of the committee’s hands), lower vendor fees, bring in food trucks (speaking of way over-priced food!), have a petting zoo, have a bingo tent. Some good ideas, but all increase the need for more money, more space, more volunteers and more planning and logistics time and expertise. To say nothing of the fact the fair, if it happens, is now a mere 10 weekends away.

If the committee and the community are serious about wanting to preserve the would-be 49-year-old event, perhaps the answer is to scale back a bit this year. Offer a two-day event (Saturday and Sunday) with perhaps one less stage; recruit volunteers and sponsors; and use this year’s (smaller) fair as a laboratory to educate and train new volunteers so they have a true awareness of and appreciation for the effort that goes into throwing such a huge party. (I dare say the folks who camp out at the beer garden for the duration have no idea the hours and sweat equity their neighbors invest to give them that opportunity).

Then, with a solid roster of committed volunteers and a head start on fundraising, go all out on next year’s shindig for that big semiquincentennial.

And if it’s necessary, the 50th anniversary would be an admirable time to call it quits.

To get involved:

If you’re serious about putting your muscle and/or money where your keyboard is, contact Heritage Fair executive director Mark Krysiak at mkrysiak@dundalkheritagefair.com or 410-440-4907.

Volunteers are asked to send their contact information to mgielner@dundalkheritagefair.com.

Donations are being accepted via Venmo and PayPal and a GoFundMe account has been set up.

Physical checks can be sent to Dundalk Heritage Fair, P.O. Box 4022, Dundalk, MD 21222.