The Future of the Grape Carnival
Should Kennewick kill its signature annual festival to save on tent rental costs? The local editor argues for permanent infrastructure instead.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The question before the business men just now is, shall there be a grape carnival this year? Some are of the opinion that it is advisable to drop it this year and take it up again the year following, and for all time. It is a whole lot easier to keep such institutions alive than it is to revive them. Once dropped, they invariably become dead issues and with them dies the interest of the promoters and the public. The three former carnivals were successful. Last year’s show entailed but a very small item of expense on the business men. There is no reason why this year’s show cannot be made equally successful. Crops are good and the exhibits should be even better this fall than last. The people generally are expecting a carnival. Why then should it be dropped? It seems to us that the businesslike thing to do is to busy ourselves with plans for giving the carnival more permanency by providing permanent quarters. The big item of expense every year has been the rental of the tent. Enough money has been paid out in rentals for canvas and for lumber the last three years to have provided permanent quarters.
“It is a whole lot easier to keep such institutions alive than it is to revive them.”
The struggle to balance event sustainability, city branding, and the desire for permanent civic infrastructure is a perennial issue for growing cities like Kennewick.
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