KEWANEE — Rising fuel costs will have a direct impact on this year’s Labor Day Hog Days Festival, with carnival ticket prices set to increase.
Hog Days Committee co‑chair Kaye Finney said CDAC Amusements, the Peoria company that provides the carnival for the annual Labor Day weekend event, recently informed the committee of the price hike. Tickets purchased at the festival will cost $1.50 each, up a quarter from last year’s price.
“With fuel cost, it’s a big part of the reason for the rise in ticket prices,” Finney said.
There is some good news. Advance tickets, however, will remain 12 for $10, and the committee will again receive $30,000 worth of advance tickets to sell through local banks, the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce, and select committee members. Those tickets will go on sale after the Henry County Fair, around the first of July.
Finney said the price increase will only apply at the ticket booth during the four‑day festival, scheduled for Sept. 4–7.
As for food items, Finney said it’s too early to tell whether the price of pork chop and pork patty sandwiches will change. Last year, sandwich prices rose from $3 to $4, and pork chops increased from $5 to $6, an increase blamed largely on tariffs.
“As of right now, and I have been in close contact with Everett and Brad Whitcher from Save‑A‑Lot, we are not planning on raising prices on the sandwiches,” Finney said.
She expects to know more by early June when pork prices are finalized. Packaging costs have risen about $1 per box, but with 36 patties and 30 chops per box, the increase amounts to only a few cents per item. Delivery fuel charges are still pending.
“Hopefully at the July 14 meeting, we’ll have all of that information and be able to put it together and make a decision,” Finney said.
At this point, she added, there’s nothing else expected to affect other festival prices. Vendor fees remain unchanged, and Finney said she’s already hearing from vendors eager to sign on for the event.
