State cuts will hurt fairs-festivals funding

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Many of West Virginia’s fairs and festivals will see a decrease in the state funding they receive to help promote and insure those events.

Lottery money is used to support fairs and festivals, with funds distributed through the Culture and History fund. This year, as part of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s across-the-board 7.5-percent budget cuts, that fund will lose $830,000. That in turn will be passed on to events statewide in fiscal year 2013-2014.

Ruth Taylor, the president of the West Virginia Association of Fairs and Festivals, called the move a bad idea.

“The thing about fairs and festivals all over the state is that they are community and economic development,” Taylor said. “They bring money into the state. Student and civic groups make their money.”

Taylor claimed many fairs and festivals will have to charge an admission fee or raise the ones already in place. That could hurt attendance and mean less money for the businesses and groups who raise money through food booths, raffles and product sales.

“This is a lot bigger economic impact than just you having a little fair and you’re taking in a few dollars at the gate,” said Taylor.

Many of the smaller fairs and festivals have been using the state money to pay for one of the biggest ticket items of any event — insurance. Taylor said even the smallest of small fairs and festivals must have coverage.

“Probably the least you can do is something like $1,500 for a heritage fair. But if you have horses or carnival rides, parades, all those things add to the cost of your insurance.” Taylor said. “So the bigger you are, the more you have, the more you pay.”

For example, Taylor is the president of the Little Levels Heritage Fair in Hillsboro, an event that pays for basic insurance because there’s not a lot of risk involved in the event. But a festival like Bridge Day, with serious risks attached, can cost much more.

“It’s a free event so how would they pay to insure that event if they didn’t have this money coming through the Culture and History funding,” Taylor said.

Under the 2013-2014 budget, Bridge Day is losing nearly $4,000 in state funding going from $38,000 to $34,200. Wheeling’s Festival of Lights will lose $7,600, the Mountain State Arts and Crafts Festival about $3,500 and the YWCA Camp Horseshoe $10,000.

The funding cuts will impact more than 100 fairs and festivals that belong to the West Virginia Association of Fairs and Festivals, along with 200 independent events, Taylor said.