FREEDOM FEST FIGHT
Two Freedom Festivals to take place this year; one free, one not
The Mercer County Parks Commission is at it again.
First they chased the Mercer County Italian American Festival to Burlington County(!) due to numerous financial disagreements. Now, the Freedom Festival, which had been the linchpin of the county’s 4th of July celebration in partnership with 94.5 WPST, is facing its own set of financial issues.
“This would’ve been the 14th year we partnered with the county for Freedom Festival,” said 94.5 WPST’s afternoon drive host Tom Shinn. “We were told a few months ago they would be backing out. But we decided for the people of Mercer County, for the listeners, we’re still going to go ahead and take on all the costs of Freedom Festival to keep it at the park. WPST picked up all the extra fees and we’re marching ahead.”
So the WPST Freedom Festival will be held June 30. It’s free to enter, and it will have everything and more you’ve come to expect, including the monster fireworks show, the live bands, the car show, the 40+ food vendors, everything.
And again, it’s free. (Only thing not free is the carnival rides. Typical prices for tickets. We’ll get there in a sec.)
The only thing not free is the county’s ridiculous parking fee of $5. And that $5 fee — which was a sticking point for the ItalianAmerican Festival folks — was last year’s big county surprise for the PST team.
“That caught us off-guard,” Shinn said. “We weren’t informed about the fee until the day before the event.”
OK. So far, that’s the story. WPST had partnered in the past with the county, and the county picked up a chunk of the costs of the event, including the $15,000 fireworks tab.
But if you think that’s all, you’re wrong.
The county is still in the Freedom Festival business, as they have partnered with L.E.A.D (Law Enforcement Against Drugs) to put on a second Freedom Festival from July 11-15.
And make no mistake — this is being billed as the official Freedom Festival, as evidenced by the press release issued by L.E.A.D., which read, in part: “We are proud to announce that L.E.A.D. is taking over the Freedom Fest.” Don’t have to exactly read between the lines there. Furthermore, the county website bills it as the “Freedom Festival State Fair powered by L.E.A.D.”
That event, by the way, also costs $5 to park. And … tickets online are $12.50 per person, and $17.50 at the door. Kids under 36 inches — so basically babies to 2-year-olds — are free. In short: If I want to, on the spur of the moment, take my family to the “official” county Freedom Festival, I’m going to fork over $87.50. That gets me in and gets me carnival rides and entertainment. (It would be $62.50 if I purchased ahead of time, but that’s a bad idea. Who knows what the weather will be, who will have a stomach bug, etc.)
Or I can take my family — for free — to the WPST version, the one the county used to put on, and pay $0 and maybe buy a few tickets for the rides.
Hmmmmm. Decisions, decisions.
Listen, I get it: The county has a responsibility to the taxpayer, but come on. I pay my taxes, and for the past forever years, I haven’t had to pay a dime to park at Mercer County Park and the cost to get into events has been either free or nominal. Plus, I got the fireworks paid for with tax dollars.
Now, you can ask a legit question: Is that good government? We can argue that point back and forth I’m sure, but unless I see my county tax bill go down because of all the money their a) saving and b) making on the parking fees, then I’m calling shenanigans.
Having to pay $5 to park at a county-run park that is already funded by my tax dollars is aggravating to no end. And now seeing the park commission chase away the Italian-American Festival, and to see them turning the Freedom Festival into an event that would cost my family $87.50 to simply walk into on the day of the event, just makes me want to absolutely not do it on general principle. (And to be clear, the fact it would cost $87.50 is ridiculous. There is a zero percent chance of me doing that. Literally zero. I can’t explain how zero it is. I mean, z-e-r-o.)
So here’s hoping WPST’s Freedom Festival — you know, the free one — kicks major ass this year, and here’s hoping WPST continues to be able to keep the event going well into the future.
Long live the free Freedom Festival.