BORDENTOWN – The two-day Cranberry Festival is one of the largest craft festivals in the state of New Jersey.
However, the remnants of Hurricane Ian over the weekend dampened plans. Event Director Leon Stanley had to make the call with the advice of the Bordentown City Police Department to cancel both days after the National Weather Service called for 30 mile per hour winds and possible thunderstorms.
This is the first time in the festival’s history that both days of the event were canceled. There have been times in past years where one day of the festival was postponed because of inclement weather, but the other day has been used as a rain date for the event.
“We have never been confronted with this situation before,” Stanley said. “There has been some chatter on social media about having a rain date, but being that it’s a two-day festival, the other day has always been built in as a rain date.”
Stanley said it would be “virtually impossible” to find another weekend this year for the Downtown Bordentown Association (DBA) to hold the event.
Stanley cited the “money put in” and “the coordination” with Bordentown City officials make it tough to reschedule the festival.
The other factor is the limited number of vendors, musical acts and restaurants that would be in attendance for the festival on another weekend.
More than 100 vendors were scheduled to be in attendance each day of the two-day festival, including 127 vendors on Oct. 2, Stanley said.
Most of those vendors would be unable to attend a rescheduled date this year based on prior commitments, he said.
For example, just in Bordentown City, there is the Hope Hose Humane Co. No. 1’s sponsored Riverfest and the Bordentown Halloween Parade that are scheduled to take place this month.
“It’s literally impossible to reschedule it based on these factors,” Stanley said. “This is the biggest time of the year for craft shows and most vendors and restaurants are already booked. It would not be feasible for us to do it.”
The annual Cranberry Festival features handmade, vintage and upcycled items, as well as a food court, beer garden and live music. This year’s Cranberry Festival was sponsored by The Bank of Princeton, Curaleaf, Title Evolution and Laura’s Salon in Bordentown.