As much of a fixture as Medford Township’s Dickens Festival has become in the local community, the event came very close to not happening in 2013.
The 24th annual festival is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 7 beginning at 6 p.m. However, returning visitors will notice the festivities have been cut back this year due to a decrease in sponsorships.
John Converse, the president of the Medford Sunrise Rotary, said the costs have outweighed the amount of money they’ve raised and sponsorship has dropped compared to previous years.
Converse even acknowledged there were talks of not holding the event. He credited Murphy’s Marketplace, this year’s main sponsor, for coming in to save the event.
“If not for Murphy’s Markets stepping up to the plate, we might not have been able to put on the event,” Converse said.
Due to a lack of sponsors, there will be no carriage rides or ice sculptures at this year’s festival. In addition, there will not be any trolley transportation to downtown Medford.
Sponsors did not feel they got enough exposure sponsoring the trolleys and carriages, according to Converse.
“They felt they got zero bang for their buck, and it wasn’t worth their advertising dollars,” he said.
Despite the cuts, Converse said a lot of businesses, especially ones in Medford Village, put forth the money to keep many of the activities alive.
“A lot of people know Dickens and understand Dickens and what it brings to the town and the historical stuff,” he said. “When they start hearing the possibility that it may not happen again, they start stepping up.”
A lot of the events that have become fixtures at the festival are returning for 2013. Santa Claus will ride down Main Street before going to the gazebo to take pictures with children.
There will also be plenty of entertainers, including stilt walkers, balloon magicians, jugglers and various other characters.
Converse also said a food court will debut this year near Harvest Coffee on Main Street. In addition, there will be a big screen projector that will play holiday films throughout the night.
The Sunrise Rotary has been running Dickens Festival since 2011. That year, it took over the event after it nearly died when the township needed an organization to put the event on.
Converse took the lead on the project and brought it under the Rotary’s control.
“The township didn’t want to do it and it was going to be done away with it,” he said.
Putting on the event is a huge challenge. The Rotary begins working on the event in February, 10 months before it actually takes place. The process of fundraising, finding sponsors and organizing the activities is very long and was made even longer with a lack of interested businesses this year.
Converse said he understands why businesses can’t afford to sponsor the event, especially with the number of festivals that the township holds each year.
“We are a vibrant town,” he said. “We do a lot of different things, so they’re always getting hit with sponsorships.”
Despite this reality, Converse hopes this year’s event will increase interest in sponsorships for the 2014 event.
Despite the cuts, the Rotary Club is still expecting more than 10,000 people to attend the Dec. 7 festival. It is free to all visitors and will be taking place all over Main Street in downtown Medford.
