Bratwurst Festival director nabs role in state group
The director of the Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival has been elected to lead an organization that represents community festivals and events throughout the state.
Kevin Myers was elected president of the Ohio Festivals and Events Association during the group’s annual convention in November, he said.
“I’ve got a one-year term that could turn into two or three years term before I’m term-limited off the board in three years,” he said. “Our goal is to help promote the festivals as well as be an advocate for them; serve as a liaison for them on issues with legislation ... that might affect them and things like that. So we really try to find a way to serve our members in any way possible.”
One of the biggest things the state organization does for its members is help connect them with companies that provide the services they need to put on a festival, Myers said — including fireworks, food, vendors, stages, sound and lighting companies, or portable toilets.
“Really everything that is comprehensive into putting a festival together,” he said. “We help to facilitate our members finding those services . ... For instance, the festivals that are at our convention can listen to up to 18 bands over the two-day period do a set on the stage. So they can hire someone that they’ve actually heard instead of just taking a shot on them.”
Its affiliation with the OFEA has helped the Bratwurst Festival in many ways, he said.
“We had our ride company cancel out on us, week of the festival, a few years ago,” he said. “Had we not been affiliated with the OFEA, we wouldn’t have found a right company within a few hours for that year.”
The organization has about 80 member festival around the state, Myers said. “We are in 44 of the 88 counties right now, so half of the state is represented,” he said.
“If you’re looking for something to do almost any given weekend, if you check the OFEA website and Facebook page, it will tell you different member festivals that are going on,” he said. “Take the time to go visit other places and hopefully if people know of a festival in their area that is not a member, they’ll direct them our way.”
Myers wants to help Ohio Festivals and Events Association grow
One of his goals for the association is “extreme growth,” he said.
“I would like to add a lot of new festivals — there’s over 3,000 festivals in the state of Ohio, and we only have about 80 that are members of our association,” he said. “I’d like to see that membership number climb exponentially. We’re going to have a grassroots effort of going out and recruiting them. They may not know who we are or what we do, so we’re going to make sure that we change that narrative.”
At the same time, he and his team are well into the process of planning the 2023 Bratwurst Festival, he said. Eleven members of the planning committee attended the OFEA convention last month.
“They met and decided on which entertainment acts they preferred, so we’re working on getting them contracted as we speak,” Myers said last week. “We’ve got a couple other things in the works that we’ll share with you when we can; we’re looking to add some things that we haven’t done for a while, or done ever . ... We’re moving forward and getting things lined up for next year, just like any other year.”
He’s looking forward to a busy year. One of his personal goals will be to visit as many Ofea-member festivals as possible.
“I made my first official visit to the Dalton Holiday Festival last weekend; went up and met with their committee and just lended the OFEA’S wishes of support,” he said. I’m going to make an effort to get to all of member festivals this coming year. They deserve that. They need to know that the association they’re a part of supports them and wants to be there. It’s an honor for me when we’ve had leadership from the OFEA come to our festival, and I want to make sure that I can continue to bestow that honor to all of our members.” ggoble@gannett.com 419-559-7263