Allentown Mayfair canceled for 2017; future uncertain
ALLENTOWN — The Mayfair Festival of the Arts has been canceled for 2017, the first time in 30 years the Allentown event will not be held.
The festival's board of directors announced on the Mayfair website that the festival will not return in 2017, blaming a shifting community dynamic, a decline in the number of volunteers, an emphasis on funding downtown Allentown development and competition from other concert and arts venues.
"{S}o much is changing in our region, in philanthropy, in volunteerism, and in Allentown, that we decided to take a step back and evaluate our future," the directors wrote on the Mayfair website.
"And the reality is the same for any organization considering such an event: the number of options for entertainment in our area is overwhelming, the audiences for art festival is shrinking, the funding streams supporting events in the city of Allentown are shifting, the pool of people who volunteer is declining, and despite every attempt to create an event that isn't impacted by the weather, it still impacts us greatly."
Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-mayfair-canceled-2017-20161219-story.html