WATERVILLE — A summer arts festival that has drawn crowds of vendors and spectators to downtown Main Street for decades has been canceled for 2015, leaving some in the arts community fearing that the annual event may be gone for good.

Meanwhile, Arts Fest organizer Waterville Main Street says it’s in the process of “replacing” the festival with opportunities for artwork to be displayed at other area events at different times of the year. Jen Olsen, executive director of Waterville Main Street, confirmed this year’s annual festival has been canceled but said it could be resuscitated in the future.

“Short-term, the goal is to make something happen for our creative community this summer,” Olsen said.

The festival has traditionally been held on the fourth Saturday in July. It was started in 1969, and during its heyday attracted more than 100 vendors and brought hundreds of visitors to downtown Waterville.

But in recent years the turnout has been sluggish. In 2013, organizers canceled the festival because not enough artists registered for the event. It was restored the next year but only about 50 artists signed up. “It didn’t get the response we hoped,” Olsen said.

Olsen and other organizers hope that new groups such as Waterville Creates!, a cultural consortium established last year, can inject new energy into Arts Fest even if it moves on from its traditional weekend gathering. Now, the intent is to take advantage of “shoulder seasons” in spring and autumn, where Waterville sees more visitors compared to the summer, Olsen said.

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For some members of Waterville’s artist community, the abrupt cancellation of Arts Fest this year is heartbreaking.

“It’s a disappointment,” Amy Cyrway, standing behind the counter of Framemakers shop on Main Street, said Tuesday.

Cyrway, president of the Waterville Area Arts Society, has been involved with Arts Fest for more than a decade. Interest in the event was strong when she started attending in 2003, but after the economic recession started seven years ago, people were less likely to spend money on art, dealing the festival a blow, she said.

Some worry that this year’s cancellation may end the event for good.

“I’m afraid it’s gone,” said Ellen Richmond, who owns the Children’s Book Cellar, a few doors down from Cyrway’s frame shop.

Richmond, a Waterville Main Street board member, was on the Arts Fest organizing committee for years. The downtown organization has consistently lost money on the event, she said.

“The reality is Waterville Main Street can’t run projects that they lose money on,” Richmond said. Arts Fest has also faced competition with similar events on the coast scheduled for the same weekend, she added.


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