Could a 20th Pleasantville Music Festival Be the Last?

By Abby Luby

If the village decides to hold the next Pleasantville Music Festival in July 2026, it will be the 20th anniversary of the popular event. But there are many “ifs.”

Village board members seemed to favor going ahead with the festival when it was discussed at last Monday night’s village work session. Their biggest reservation was the event’s continuing financial struggles.

Last July, the festival lost $103,997, marking the fourth year ending in the red, even with raised ticket prices. The weather started out overcast, but the sun finally came out for most of the eight-hour festival.

The board will consider raising ticket prices again and establishing a VIP tent offering parking, reserved seats, and a meet-and-greet tent if the festival goes forward.

“The benefits to the community for this long-standing event are worth an investment for something, as a community and brand building exercise,” said Pleasantville Mayor Peter Scherer. “It’s a great day for a whole lot of people both who live here and in the region. But I would also say, speaking for myself, we can’t lose $100,000 year after year because that feels like it’s beyond where we can be.”

Former festival director Bruce Figler, who was at the meeting, was more positive about a 2026 music festival.

“Last year was a one off and unlikely to happen that way again. If we get good weather I’m thinking that we come close to breaking even,” Figler said. “I’m not guaranteeing that we can get $40-50,000 in the black but I think that breaking even is something that can be done.”

Figler was joined by Sue and Dave Harmon, long-time supporters and festival organizers. Festival director Doug Panero attended the meeting online.

One crucial unknown is the continued support of the festival’s biggest sponsors, Northwell Health and Captain Lawrence Brewing Company.

“We also have to reach out to determine whether our presenting sponsor, Northwell, is in the game again,” said Scherer. “Hopefully they are. Unless we have that level of support at least, there’s no way forward.”

Board member Paul Alvarez asked if the festival could run on a lower budget.

“If Northwell might not give us as much as they have in the past, could the festival run on a lower budget?” Alvarez asked. “Could it be cut 25 percent?”

Figler suggested cutting the budget would create a very different festival because it would mean hiring fewer known bands. The cost of hiring talent has been escalating and is the festival’s major expense.

“The festival would totally disappoint people who have been coming out for the last 10 years and who expect to see name bands,” Figler said. “Every time you cut the budget you lessen the bands and lessen the turnout.”

Other music festivals are also seeing how expensive high-profile bands have become, Figler observed.

“Festivals are finding that it’s too expensive and they are going away,” he said. “Bands are starting to see that there are less venues to perform at because they have priced themselves out of the market. The pendulum is swinging.”

The 2026 music festival will be the 20th anniversary, which could be a marketing advantage.

“If we marketed it as perhaps the last year it may have some horse power,” Scherer said.

Sue Harmon agreed that celebrating the festival’s anniversary would be a positive move.

“Capitalizing on the 20th year is a big win for our town,” Harmon remarked. “I’d also like to see if we do move forward that we can capitalize on more local sponsorship and get more of our town involved. Why don’t we get a little more support from people and the businesses in our village? It’s the smaller sponsorships that goes a long way and it really shows the whole village is together.”

Board member David Vinjamuri suggested that a smaller revenue loss might be manageable.

“About a $50,000 loss when the weather is sketchy is acceptable assuming there are years where the weather is not sketchy and we are neutral and we are making money,” Vinjamuri said. “That’s my personal opinion.”

Vinjamuri added that if the festival has what he called a negative outcome, he would not support the festival going forward.

If the board ultimately decides to support going ahead with a 2026 festival, they will likely pass a resolution during December to solidify a festival budget line in the 2026 fiscal budget, which starts in July. Once a resolution is passed, festival organizers can start booking bands.

Figler reminded the board how successful the 2019 festival was.

“We saw what happened in 2019 where we turned a nice tidy profit. I think that can happen again,” Figler said. “Things were tried this year that may or may not have worked very well. But I believe if we put the right bands on the line up you will get the people in.”