Racine's Party on the Pavement vendor fees double, spark backlash
Racine's Party on the Pavement vendor fees double, spark backlash
Increased fees for a festival in downtown Racine have vendors upset, with some of them even bowing out of the event in protest.
RACINE, Wis. - Increased fees for a festival in downtown Racine have vendors upset, with some of them even bowing out of the event in protest.
Increased vendor fees
What we know:
One of those vendors is Maria Castillo. She runs her own crochet business: Cozy by Castillo.
"My mom actually taught my sister and I when we were younger," said Castillo.
She has worked her stand at Party on the Pavement in downtown Racine for the past four years.
It's a big event for locals. But increased fees were too much to continue that tradition.
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"We were just talking about what we were going to do for this year, and then we looked at the cost and that kind of shut us down," said Castillo.
Organizers doubled vendor fees for this year’s celebration. For art vendors like Castillo, the cost sits at $250.
"I have to find other markets to go to, knowing that they’re not going to have that foot traffic that I expect from Party on the Pavement. It kind of ruins the fun of it," said Castillo.
Jose Perez, the owner of Big City BBQ, also decided to skip the event this year. His food vendor fee is $600.
"When you tally it up as a business perspective, it doesn’t make sense," said Perez.
Perez and Castillo say they heard many other vendors are doing the same.
Downtown Racine Corporation response
The other side:
The organizer of the event, Downtown Racine Corporation, posted a response to the backlash earlier Wednesday, citing increased costs and input from last year that there was too much vendor competition.
"We’re really just listening to feedback," said the Executive Director of the Downtown Racine Corporation, Kelly Kruse.
For downtown brick and mortar stores, the fees are staying the same as in 2025. The Downtown Racine Corporation says these businesses are at the heart of the event.
"We’re really trying to bring this event back to what it started out as – a celebration of downtown, local merchants," said Kruse.
According to the post, they "hope to place a greater focus on downtown Racine's brick-and-mortar businesses while still welcoming quality vendors."
Even so, Castillo and others still cannot justify the fees.
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"This is my favorite event of the year, and I’m not going to lie to you, because of how many people you get to see. Because of knowing we’re sharing our art with this mass audience," said Castillo. "It really is just super unfortunate for us to see those prices go up."
Contrary to online rumors, Party on the Pavement will continue to be free this year.
The event is on Sep. 19 from noon to 7 p.m. and roughly 100 vendors are expected to take part.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Ben Hanson and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from Maria Castillo, Jose Perez and Downtown Racine Corporation.