Organizers for the first annual Saucon Creek Arts Festival confirmed to Lower Saucon Township Council Wednesday that they still plan to hold the festival at Heller Homestead Park in May.
The representatives from the Saucon Valley Conservancy had previously said the festival could be in jeopardy due to the township’s requirement that participating artists have liability insurance.
Russell Rice, a member of the conservancy’s board of directors, on Wednesday explained that the conservancy will pay the $35 insurance premium for each vendor, in spite of the fact that doing so “obviously cuts into the fundraising aspect of (the festival).”
“The only reason we’re having the arts festival is because we’re eating the $35 per artist,” he said, adding that “we’ve been doing a lot of these things for years and all of a sudden there is a requirement.”
Councilwoman Priscilla deLeon said the policy that mandates the insurance coverage “is not new” and was first implemented by council in 2011.
“I think we have to say we welcome new events,” councilman Dave Willard said in an attempt to strike a conciliatory tone. “I think we want to work in the spirit of partnership—not adversarially.”
So far, 42 artists have committed to participate in the Saturday, May 30 event, and organizers hope to have a total of 50 exhibitors along the banks of the Saucon Creek when all is said and done.
The festival will feature a juried art show, with more than $1,500 in prizes to be awarded.
For more information about the festival, contact the conservancy at 610-838-1199 or email sauconcreekartsfestival@
