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Oswego says severe weather caused more than $35,000 loss to special events budget · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Oswego says severe weather caused more than 35,000 loss to special events
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  budget Written by Eric Shelkoff. This article is being read by an
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  automated voice, brought to you by Everlet. The village’s of Oswego is
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  projecting a 35,120 net loss in its special events budget after
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  severe weather caused the cancellation of two event this year. The village
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  was forced to cancel its boots, bourbon, and barbecue fest, which was
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  set to take place september nineteenth at the village's outdoor amphitheater, venue
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  ten twelve, due to heavy rain. While the goal of the Boots,
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  Bourbon and Barbecue Fest in year one was
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  to break even, the very unfortunate day of full cancellation
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  of the event led to a total loss of roughly forty thousand
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  dollars. Village Events Manager Kelly Burtag said during the october twentieth Oswego
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  Village Boards Committee of the whole meeting. Rising Country music artists Hayden
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  Koffman, and Noah Hicks, along with the Yorkville-based Tim Gleason band, and
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  students from the School of Rock and Osego were set to perform
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  at the festival. The festival also was to feature Bay 54 crafted
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  bourbon cocktails, barbecue food trucks and games. Stormy weather also led to
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  the cancellation of the Oswego 250 activities planned for the 4th of
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  July at Prairie Point Community Park in Oswego. The fireworks show went
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  on as planned. Burtag said.
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  The village’s made the right call in cancelling the Boots, Bourbon and
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  Barbecue Fest and the Azwego 250 activities. Between July 4th and September
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  19th there was over ten inches of rain that we experienced on
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  those two days plus extensive lightning and the subsequent flooding of both
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  Prairie Point Park and Venue 1012, he said. In both those cases
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  it was heartbreaking, but ultimately the right decision for the village with
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  the village's upcoming Christmas walk expected to break even, the village is
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  looking at an expected net loss of thirty five thousand one hundred
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  and twenty dollars in its public events budget, he said.
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  The village's special event fund began the year with 579,491.
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  Based on these projections, we'll finish with a balance of 544,371,
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  Burtag said. Fortunately, the special event fund has grown by roughly 92,000
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  over the past three years, so this gain helped absorb the loss
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  that we sustained this year due to that severe weather. He noted
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  that the village's popular wine on the Fox event generated 123,576
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  in revenues this year. The event cost 110,680 to put on. Combined
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  with 23,995 generated from sponsorships, the village
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  ended up with a net profit of 36,891 from the event. That
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  more than offset the cost of our movies Under the Stars series
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  as well as the thirty thousand dollars fireworks display for the Fourth
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  of July, Burtag said. Future of Venue 1012. In light of dwindling
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  attendance at venue 1012, Oswego scaled back the number of activities at
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  the village-owned amphitheater this summer. Instead of Venue
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  1012 hosting concerts all summer, the
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  village was planning for one all-day festival, which was the Boots, Bourbon
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  and Barbecue Festa and three movies under the Stars events. Burtag told
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  trustees that many independent venues across the state and country are facing
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  challenges. The National Independent Venue Association did a very comprehensive study in
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  2025 that looked at the country at large but also each individual
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  state, he said. And in the state of Illinois, only 22 of
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  independent performing arts venues are profitable. Venue 1012 opened in August 2021
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  after local business owner Kevin Fianco donated a three-acre plot of land
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  to the village. Venue 1012's first full season was 2022. Last year
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  it saw an overall decrease in attendance from 2024 which village staff
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  attributed in part to excessively hot weather. Venue 1012 also is available
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  to rent for public and private events. Burtag also recommended the village
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  encourage more rentals and community use of venue 1012, something which had
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  the full support of village trustee Rachel Koenig. I think it's a
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  great resource for the village and for residents, she said. They just
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  need to know about it. Village Trustees agreed with Burtag's recommendations for
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  next year's season, including that the village continue to offer a limited
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  number of village-produced events, including Boots, Bourbon and Barbecue and the Movies
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  Under the Stars program.