Lafayette ending Oatmeal Festival

The Lafayette Oatmeal Festival, the city’s perennial celebration of all things Quaker Oats and their toppingladen meals, will come to an end, officials said Tuesday.

Lafayette Chamber of Commerce director of Events and marketing Pat Vero said the event’s major sponsor decided to end its support, citing “tightening budgets and shifting priorities,” and that without its partnership, the chamber could not continue the 22yearlong event.

“It is not economically feasible for the Lafayette Chamber to do an event of this size without the financial support of Quaker, so unfortunately, this is the end of the Oatmeal Festival,” Vero said in a statement. “We explored many other options to keep this event without Quaker, but it just wasn’t doable.”

She added that at this time, there are no plans to replace the January event.

It’s unclear the specific reasons for Quaker’s withdrawal — the company did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday — though Vero said the event has seen “record numbers” in recent years. In addition to its popular Oatmeal Breakfast, the festival also boasts a 5K walk/run, and an addition to the 2018 event, two Ninja Warrior Courses.

The festival took its roots in Lafayette in the 1990s, when downtown business owners were looking for a way to promote the town in the winter months and found National Oatmeal Day on a calender in January.

A group of 125 residents took part in the first Quaker Oats Smart Heart Challenge as part of the festival’s second offering. Nearly 100 in the group ate oatmeal for 30 days and dropped their cholesterol levels.