The Tamaqua Historical Society plans to scale back the size of its annual Heritage Festival, scheduled for Oct. 8.

The changes were announced by society President Dale Freudenberger, and came after a request made by a resident with accessibility issues following the society’s 2022 Summerfest.

Vendors won’t be allowed to set up their stands on West Broad Street sidewalks as they have during previous years because of congestion and handicapped accessibility issues.

Despite the lack of street vendors, a number of sites and activities will be offered. The museum and some shops will still be participating.

“The good news is that starting in 2024, we will plan a whole new layout and location for our two festivals in June and October,” Freudenberger said in his announcement. “Unfortunately, it will take us months to plan these changes, notify all participants in advance as to their new locations, apply for permits, address traffic flow and access to the new festival area, lineup additional help, and many other issues to be sure things run smoothly for our first time.”

Freudenberger said the society won’t be able to make the changes in time for the upcoming fall festival.

“When we make these changes for the first time next year, we want to feel confident in our ability to present it well for the first time,” he said.

Tamaqua Borough Councilwoman Kathy Kunkel was part of a committee formed last year to meet with the society on festival safety and accessibility concerns.

“Several suggestions were made, but never implemented. Last year’s Heritage Festival and this year’s Summerfest were more crowded and less safe and accessible than ever,” she said. “This led to council agreeing to have the festivals move from the crowded sidewalks to the streets, a deal that historical society reps had been seeking.”

In July, council approved a request from the society to seek approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to close a portion of West Broad Street, which is also Route 209. In the past, the street has been open to traffic.

“On Aug. 23, council was notified that nothing had been done to implement the needed changes. Assistance was again offered but not accepted, instead, the society decided to cancel, then downsize, this year’s Heritage Day Festival,” Kunkel said. “This seems to be the only way, at this time, to make the festivals safer and more accessible. This decision is solely their responsibility.”

Freudenberger said that beginning in 2024, the society will seek permission from PennDOT to shut down West Broad Street.

If granted, he said that festival participants who set up on West Broad Street sidewalks and those who had activities on South Railroad Street will be relocated to a four block area of West Broad Street between South Railroad and Lehigh streets.

The change would allow participants to set up on both sides of the street and provide an area to walk

“Nothing will be set up on the sidewalks,” he said, and a traffic detour for routes 309 and 209 will be designated for that day.

Freudenberger said that those who registered for the October festival will be notified and registration fees will be returned.

“We feel bad that we are forced to cancel all of our vendors who were assuming they would be setup on the downtown sidewalks as they have always been for the Tamaqua festivals for the past 38 years,” he said. “We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience to you for this year. Hopefully you will all return in 2024 when we have a whole different festival location and setup format. We feel it will be a better festival format for the future, and relieve congestion and handicapped accessibility issues.”

Open sites and activities include the society museum, annex and art gallery, Lehigh & New England Railroad exhibit, 1848 Hegarty Blacksmith Shop, bus tours of Lehigh Anthracite mining operations, Tamaqua Anthracite Model Railroad Club model train layout and Tink’s Antiques.

The society plans to update activities as the festival nears.

Questions may be directed to Freudenberger at dalefreud@gmail.com.