The Kutztown Folk Festival, the annual ode to the culture, food and traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch, will not take place in 2025.

The festival's board of directors announced Wednesday that "mounting financial challenges" have made the nine-day event "unsustainable."

"This was a difficult choice, but due to dwindling attendance, increased costs and continued net losses, we are no longer able to host the Kutztown Folk Festival," Ed Richmond, vice president and chief financial officer of the Kutztown Pennsylvania German Festival Inc., said in a news release.

The announcement left open the possibility of a return.

"We are hopeful that a successor, or successors, will step up to reimagine the event and take on its operations moving forward," Richmond said.

Kutztown Folk Festival gives a unique look at Pennsylvania German culture, organizers say

The Kutztown Folk Festival, first held in 1950, bills itself as the oldest continuously operated folklife festival in America. Held on grounds near Kutztown University, it's not affiliated with the university but has received financial support from the Kutztown University Foundation.

It cost $1 million to produce the 2024 festival, and since 2022 the event has lost $347,000, according to organizers.

"The festival is a true community event, and we are grateful to the volunteers, staff, vendors, craftspeople, sponsors and patrons who contributed to its cultural legacy," Richmond said. "This decision to suspend operations was difficult. The board wanted to announce now, so that our vendors and craftspeople have the opportunity to make alternate summer plans. We encourage our guests to continue to support Pennsylvania Dutch culture in the region."

Vendors are expected to receive full refunds, the organization said.

Patrick Donmoyer, director of the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University, said the festival was one of the longest-running community celebrations for the Pennsylvania Dutch in the region, and added that it was the only one of its kind.

Donmoyer, who's been involved with the festival since 2006, said the cultural center has provided support to it through education programs, demonstrations, tours and displays. He said he understood the decision to cancel the festival was difficult, and that he appreciated that it was able to continue for so long.

"It has meant so much to the community. I know I will miss interfacing with the public while presenting on regional culture and painting barn stars with a vibrant community of artists -- and I am comforted to know that there will be other opportunities for these traditions to continue," Donmoyer said.

He said he was optimistic that the region's culture will continue to be celebrated, including through events held by the Reading-Berks chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen and the cultural heritage center.

Other Kutztown area officials expressed sadness at the festival's loss.

"It was a big surprise and it's a great loss," said Barbara Vogelgesang of the Kutztown Community Partnership. "I'm hoping it's just for 2025."

"It's very sad," said Heather Zimmerman, CEO of Pennsylvania's Americana Region, Berks County's tourist bureau. "We don't like to see something like this happen, especially for a long-running cultural event like that. We're hopeful that at some point, somebody else will take it on or reimagine the festival in future years."

The festival began in 1950 by founders Alfred L. Shoemaker, Don Yoder and J. William Frey, who envisioned a festival that would fuel the revitalization of local culture by putting it on display under the the umbrella of "folklife," which included celebrating and demonstrating the arts, agriculture, folk beliefs, tradition and daily life of the Pennsylvania Dutch, according to Donmoyer.

He said the festival showcased living traditions of the region as meaningful expressions of the culture's ongoing growth, change and evolution.

This year's festival was set to take place starting in June.