ORANGE PARK — The town council made the decision to cancel this year’s Kids Fest following discussion at Tuesday night’s meeting. 

Branded as the “funnest event in town”, KidsFest is an event showcasing games, activities, live music, food and shopping. The event has been put on annually and is geared toward children 12 years old and younger.

Councilman Doug Benefield said the Culture and Recreation Committee began discussing possibly cutting the event after the end of last year. The group took a look at which town events were profitable and which were not. Town residents were also surveyed.

Events and Recreation Coordinator Emily Dockery said it was her idea to remove the event from the budget.

“It was my idea to remove it and do something more in line with what the residents want,” she said. “What things I’ve even heard you, yourself Mr. Mayor, say that you want in terms of holiday events.”

Mayor Randy Anderson questioned why the council and public were not more involved in the decision.

“We have our events in the town. They’re signature. We need to explain to the residents why we cancelled it,” Anderson said. 

Dockery noted there is no events policy put into place, so they can only go by what has been done historically and "what similar policies would suggest."

Within the town’s budget policy, it states that the town manager has the authority to transfer funds within a master GL account, Dockery said. She added that is why it wasn’t necessary to get council approval. 

Dockery said that she and previous Town Manager Sarah Campbell discussed the matter based on previous events like Movie Night, which was also just eliminated. She said that was not a council decision.

Anderson said the budget committee on which he sat cancelled the events.

Dockery said of all their events, Kids Fest was the least attended by residents and lacking revenue for the town. 

During public comment, one resident even noted that it was never something she and her children liked to attend.

Within the potential plan, the majority of the approximately $36,000 budgeted funds from Kids Fest will be reallocated to Orange Park After Dark, of which residents said they want to see more. Additionally, Dockery said funds will be used for a future social media conference, marketing campaigns, a software management program, holiday events and the Fall Festival. 

Councilman Kenneth Vogel said it seems that checks and balances were lost along the process. While Anderson said he believed the council was left in the dark.

“It shouldn’t have taken six months for just a courtesy to go, ‘Hey guys, we’re thinking about canceling this,’” Vogel said.

Another resident expressed she believes the committee has no authority to cancel anything. 

“[Whatever] you plan in your committee is a recommendation to the council,” she said. “You do not have the authority to sit there and say money is going to go here, money is going to go there.” 

The resident suggested not canceling the event but rather revamping it or looking at ways to make it more successful.

Vice-Mayor Winnette Sandlin added she’s not sure allocating the money now is the right thing for the town.

The council agreed and decided to postpone the event until 2026 and come back with better ideas.