With rain from Hurricane Florence on the horizon, the Christiansburg Kiwanis Club had a decision to make on whether to hold its annual Wilderness Trail Festival or cancel.
Vendors begin packing up before noon at last Saturday’s Wilderness Trail Festival as the rain from Hurricane Florence put a damper on the event.
Early last week, models indicated that it might be the latter, but two days before the event slated for last Saturday, updated forecasts showed that the area would be receiving much less rain than expected, so the show went on.
Unfortunately, while there was not as much precipitation as expected, it was enough to keep the majority of vendors from setting up and the ones that did show up were mostly gone from downtown Christiansburg by noon.
Kiwanis member and Chairman of the festival Ernie Wade said that it was the first time in the event’s 45-year history that it was rained out.
“It was unfortunate to say the least, but after a streak like that, I guess we were due for one,” he said.
Wade said that vendors and sponsors will not receive refunds for the event since much of the money was spent preparing for the event, and it technically did go on despite hardly anybody showing up. Vendor fees ranged from $75 to $100.
“Most of the vendors understood the situation. They know what we use the money for, so most wouldn’t want it back,” Wade said.
The funds raised by the civic group go towards helping underprivileged residents in the area, largely children through partnerships with the schools.
Of the 125 vendors scheduled, only 29 showed up Saturday morning. Wade said that the event could not be rescheduled due to the fact that vendors have other obligations.
He said that next year vendors that choose to come back will receive some sort of discount but the group has not decided on the amount yet.
“It will probably be in the 20 or 30 percent range,” he said.
