Thurmont considers increasing vendor permit fees for Colorfest

Aug. 11—Thurmont's commissioners are considering increasing permitting fees for vendors at the Catoctin Colorfest, if the town's cost for security, sanitation and transportation at the two-day festival is more than 15% higher than last year.

For years, the cost of permits at the festival — which attracts up to 100,000 people each fall — has been $50 for craft vendors and $500 for commercial food vendors.

But the cost to host the arts and crafts festival has been increasing, Thurmont Mayor John Kinnaird said at the town meeting on Tuesday.

Last year, the town paid $22,320 to offer shuttle buses at the festival, an increase of more than $4,000 from what it spent in 2019. It also paid more for security and sanitation services.

Colorfest was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic.

The commissioners don't yet know how much the cost of the three services will be this year. They've requested prices from the companies, and will hear back later this month, Kinnaird said.

"As much as I'd like to say we can keep the same fees year after year after year, it just doesn't work that way," he said.

Last year, the town gave permits to 615 vendors, a drop from the 720 vendors it provided with permits in 2019. This year, the festival's president, Carol Robertson, is optimistic the town will have more vendors than it did in 2021, she said on Tuesday.

The town has hosted Colorfest since 1963, according to the festival's website. The event donates money to the local food bank, volunteer fire department, ambulance company and police department, and provides scholarships to high school graduates in the area.

Since it does so much good for the town, Kinnaird said, he's been willing to overlook some "overages" over the years. But the town hasn't broken even on hosting the event for a few years, and he wants that to change.

"It shouldn't cost the residents anything to operate Colorfest," he said.

But Gary Spiegel, a representative of the American Legion Post 168 in Thurmont, discouraged the commissioners from raising permitting fees this year.

The post has 146 spaces for vendors, and 80% of the participants who worked out of the building in 2021 have already renewed their applications for 2022, Spiegel said.

"They start renewing the closing Sunday of the Colorfest," he said. "So raising the permitting fee for 2022 is not going to sit well."

He said he would support the commissioners if they decided to increase the permitting fee for 2023. He added that they should have decided to increase fees two years ago, when they started talking about the possibility.

Kinnaird compared the town's potential decision to increase permitting costs to the way the American Legion would have to increase the price of food, if the cost of their supplies went up.

"We're providing services to help Colorfest operate," he said. "If our fees go up higher than what we're anticipating or what we can absorb, our only option is to increase the fees."

Parking will also likely be more expensive at the festival this year.

Local organizations like parent-teacher associations offer parking at lots around the town, and charge visitors by the vehicle. Previously, the town has received $2 for every vehicle, but this year, it will get $4.

The town has encouraged organizations to raise their parking prices, so they won't lose money, Chief Administrative Officer Jim Humerick said.

On Tuesday, the commissioners also decided to allow residents to hold yard sales without paying for a permit this year during Colorfest. Although permits to hold a yard sale during the festival only cost $25, that's a lot of money for some residents, Kinnaird said.

"It certainly would benefit a lot of our residents, if they could have yard sales to recover a little bit from these last two years of economic hardship," he said.

Follow Angela Roberts on Twitter: @24_angier