The City of Gaffney’s decision to charge the SC Peach Festival for its parade has created quite a stir.
City council faced some tough decisions in trying to balance its budget and cutting expenses associated with parades was one of the items eliminated.
The fact that the Festival was awarded $16,881 this year from the city’s Accommodation Tax revenue to put on this year’s event appears to make that decision a fair one. In the past decade the Festival has received $286,000 from the city’s Hospitality Tax and Accommodations Tax revenues.
The problem is that Festival officials had not budgeted the parade expense and were under the assumption there would be no charges this year as was the case in previous years.
Up until the city’s budget was passed a few weeks ago, there had apparently been no indication that charges would be forthcoming.
Just days before the final reading of the budget the city’s finance committee voted to include funding for the Christmas parade and the Peach Festival parade. However, city council voted unanimously to eliminate the Festival parade from the fee waiver during that final reading. Waiving costs associated with the Christmas parade remained.
Fees for events and parades in the city are nothing new. A fee schedule was implemented in 2021 outlining various charges, such as for closing streets and overtime for city employees.
Upon learning of the impending charges for the parade, Festival officials asked for and received permission from Blacksburg Town Council to hold this year’s parade in the Iron City.
In year’s past the city has waived fees for four parades — Christmas, Peach Festival, Martin Luther King and Veterans Day.
It is an unfortunate situation and perhaps one that could have been avoided with better communication between the City and Festival officials.
We urge everyone to put an end to the ‘blame game’ and look on the bright side: By having the parade in Blacksburg, the SC Peach Festival becomes more of a Cherokee County event rather than just Gaffney.
And remember, numerous activities will be held in the city-owned Jolly Park.
For almost 50 years the SC Peach Festival has partnered with the City of Gaffney, Cherokee County and Town of Blacksburg to provide our community with quality entertainment and fun-filled events.
Over those years, the Festival’s Board of Governors has had to deal with numerous issues but manages to overcome all obstacles. Don’t let this little ‘bump in the road’ deter you from enjoying and supporting this year’s festival!
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