(MONONA) The Monona Community Festival, the annual fourth of July event in the heart of Monona,
will end after 2024. A combination of fewer core volunteers, increased costs, and new regulation has put
the event on an unsustainable path.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce that this year’s event will be our last,” said Monona
Community Festival President Eric Redding. “Unfortunately, in the last few years we have seen our core
volunteers that organize the event go from a group of over twenty down to fewer than seven. The smaller
group of volunteers has done an amazing job to keep the event going so far, but we are simply unable to
do so moving forward.”

The Monona Community Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, entirely volunteer run organization. The event
has its origins in the mid-60’s-70’s as the “Monona Fun Days”, which eventually became the current
festival in the mid-80’s. Today, the event routinely draws 20,000 – 30,000 people to Winnequah Park and
boasts one of the best fireworks shows in the Madison area on July 4 th . The proceeds of the festival are
used to help support other location organizations such as the Boy Scouts, volunteer fire fighter
association, youth sports teams, and Badger Honor Flight.

In addition to fewer volunteers, the cost of running the festival, from the price of beer and bands to
equipment and trash pickup, has steadily risen over the last several years. Festival organizers have worked
hard to limit the cost increases from reaching the public to keep the event open to families of all means.
The festival also received unexpected news only a few weeks ago that the City of Monona would be
requiring a substantial fee in 2024 for police, fire/EMS, and public works staff time. That amount is set to
dramatically increase the following year with new park fees. In addition to the new costs, the city is
proposing new forms, fees, and processes to even hold the event.

While there are options to help mitigate the increased costs with additional sponsorships and other funds,
those efforts add a significant amount of work to an already heavy workload. This year’s festival alone
will feature over 100 food and art vendors, a dozen sponsors, more than 20 activities over two days, and
the fireworks show that draws tens of thousands of people to Winnequah Park. Each of those items
requires dozens of hours to plan and coordinate.

“We sympathize with the dire financial situation the City of Monona finds itself in, but our volunteer
organization is already struggling to fund and plan our event,” continued Redding. “Instead of taking
actions like cutting beloved kid’s activities or having a cover charge to get into the music tent that will
lead to the slow death of the festival, we have decided to end on high note.”

The final two-day event kicks off on July 3rd with live music, a happy hour, carnival rides, team trivia, a
wine & cigar pairing, and a corn hole competition. July 4th will see the return of the art fair, Wife Carrying
Championship, even more live music, a classic car show, drag bingo, and plenty of fun for the family.
Throughout the whole event, great food will be available from local food carts, classic carnival snacks
will be fried, and cold beer and wine will be flowing.

As always, the event culminates in a fireworks display the evening of July 4th at 9:20 p.m. in Winnequah
Park. The launch zone is at the softball diamonds between the Monona Pool and Winnequah School.
Seating is available in the surrounding park on a first-come, first-served basis. A blanket or lawn chairs
are recommended.

“The festival organizers want to thank all our sponsors, volunteers, and members of the public who have
supported the event for decades. While we are sad to say goodbye, we hope that a group of community
members can potentially revive the event in the future,” concluded Redding. “Until then, we can think of
no better way to end the festival than with a bang!”