Exeter UFO Festival breaks records: Here’s why this popular event is in trouble

EXETER — When the UFO Festival was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Connie Cox of the Exeter Area Kiwanis Club said a couple from Japan had contacted her, voicing their disappointment.

“They planned their whole trip around the festival,” she recalled. “They booked flights, hotels.”

The anecdote shows the popularity of the festival — which pays homage to the famous 1965 UFO sighting known as the “Incident at Exeter."

This past Labor Day weekend, the Exeter Area Kiwanis Club hosted its 13th UFO Festival, drawing crowds from all over the country to downtown Exeter. From a panel of expert speakers to the trolley rides to the Kensington site where the UFO was spotted, Kiwanis Club President Bob Cox said this year’s attendance was the largest yet.

“It was larger than the one we had last year — which was the one after two years of COVID (hiatus),” said Bob Cox. “We sold out of everything, and the speakers were great.”

As part of an international association, the Exeter Area Kiwanis Club focuses on helping children in need, with 100% of its profits going towards children’s charities and community programs. The UFO Festival is the club's biggest fundraiser and typically raises between $8,000 to $9,000 each year.

Last year, the club donated $8,000 in scholarships — split equally between Exeter High School and the Seacoast School of Technology.

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Exeter UFO Festival merch tops nearly $15K in sales

One of the biggest festival draws, is its merchandise, which also accounts for a large portion of the total funds raised. From T-shirts to hats, mugs to sunglasses, Kathy Lemarise, owner of Trends Gift Gallery, said “If you can put the UFO logo on it, we’d probably sell it.”

Since the festival’s debut in 2009, the Exeter Area Kiwanis Club has partnered up with Trends Gift Gallery, giving them the exclusive rights to sell its merchandise in advance.

This year, Trends Gift Gallery reached $14,809.96 in sales from UFO merchandise, more than double last year. Lemarise said their goal is to raise $20,000 next year.

“The biggest thing is raising money for the Kiwanis,” said Lemarise. “They (Exeter Area Kiwanis Club) give all the money back to the community.”

Lemarise recalled selling only about 100 T-shirts during the first year. This year, they made 750 different sales from T-shirts to hats.

“The Kiwanis gave up 100 shirts in mid-August and we sold out within five days,” said Rose MacDougall, store manager at Trends Gift Gallery. “People call us from all over the country asking if we would ship it to them.”

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Organizers sound alarm on UFO Festival’s future

As the UFO Festival gets bigger each year, Bob Cox said he's concerned about its future due to the declining number of Kiwanis members. Currently, there are only nine members, many of whom are elderly.

Bob Cox said the planning stage for each year’s festival begins in January.

“Planning it (is easy) because we allow ourselves enough time,” he said. “The actual implementation or putting on the festival is just a struggle. This year we had 28 to 30 volunteers, or we couldn’t have had it.”

Those volunteers, he added, are students from the Exeter High School Key Club, Cooperative Middle School Builders Club, and family and friends.

“Most of our members are retired right now,” he said. “We would love to have all ages… We’re thinking about having a membership drive… that’s our goal for this year.”

Lemarise, who has known and worked with Bob Cox for years, said the festival is in jeopardy of ending if there is no new blood.

“It needs more young blood,” she said. “A lot of people think they (have to) do a tremendous amount to be in the group … if you could only give 10 hours a year, they would love that.”

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How to join the Exeter Area Kiwanis Club?

If you're interested in becoming a member, visit the Exeter Area Kiwanis Club website to apply.

The club meets the second and fourth Tuesday of the month from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Exeter YMCA Community Room.

The membership fee is $120 yearly and is half-off for spouses. If you were a member from a different club, the first year is free. Students in the Key Club and Builders Club are also eligible for free membership in the first year.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exeter UFO Festival breaks attendance, fundraising records