The draft budget for the 2025 Strawberry Festival will go before LaSalle town council next week.
Last year, the festival posted a deficit of $2,721 that was attributed to a decrease in admission revenue and strawberry and ice cream sales due to poor weather, and higher park setup costs.
Patti Funaro, Director of Culture and Recreation with the town says for 2025 they are projecting a small surplus of $600, however the festival will be without a thrill show.
"There's different ones we've had, BMX riders, high-dive shows, trampoline shows," she said. "Some of them have more costs associated with them, like the high-dive show for example, requires that you bring in a crane in and there's a pool to fill up. So we were able to reduce some expenses there just by looking at some other options that we might be able to bring in that don't require those costs for setup."
This year's festival will take place from Thursday Jun. 5 to Sunday Jun. 8, coinciding with Art in the Park at Willistead Park in Windsor.
She says the town does not foresee the two events overlapping being an issue for the Strawberry Festival.
"Unfortunately based on the availability of our carnival provider, it ends up coinciding with Art in the Park, and that typically only happens once every so often, so that's what's happening for this year," Funaro said. "It won't happen again for a quite a number of years, but we don't anticipate that there should be too many conflicts as they are two very different festival types."
According to the report going to council, the town has established a clear guideline for setting the festival dates, with Strawberry Festival always occurring on the second weekend of June, with the first day of the festival falling between June 5 and June 11 moving forward.
Funaro says council will also be asked to approve the town entering into a three-year agreement with Robertson Amusements to provide the carnival at the festival.
"We're just finalizing the agreement, that is part of this report," she said. "They've been our carnival provider for quite a number of years and we anticipate continuing that partnership with them."
Funaro says the town will have more to share on entertainment offerings closer to June.
Admission is $5 per day or a weekend pass is $12.
LaSalle council meets Tuesday Mar. 11 at 6 p.m.