Reaction was swift last week when the CHQ Chamber canceled the annual Mayville Winter Festival.

Concerns over costs for insurance and lack of volunteers made hosting the festival too difficult – until the cancellation sparked a community reaction and renewed community involvement. A full schedule will be released this week, but for now it’s known the festival will take place Feb. 14-16 with a castle and food vendors in Lakeside Park. A planning meeting at 6 p.m. tonight in Mayville will pin down further details on events at both Lakeside Park and the Village Green across from the Chautauqua County Courthouse.

It’s good to see the festival come back. It’s a long-cherished event that helps break up the midwinter monotony with something fun for families. Winter seems to be here in full force – which thus far means we should have pretty good ice for a castle on the shores of Chautauqua Lake and good weather for a weekend of winter fun. We hope that remains the case for the next month.

Festivals and events are a lot of work. They require a lot of behind-the-scenes work, fundraising, planning, permits and volunteers putting in their time and effort over the course of months. As life gets busier and busier, and as our population continues to decrease, there are fewer and fewer volunteers to continue events like the Mayville Winter Festival. We hear about this lack of volunteers a lot as nonprofit agencies look for both funding and for help to carry out their work helping the less fortunate. Events and festivals are in a similar boat.

There’s a lot of work to do in the next month to make the Winter Festival a reality, and we hope this year’s near cancellation is a wake up call to area residents who nearly lost decades worth of winter fun because many take for granted that festivals and events will simply be here in perpetuity.