Feather Fest cooped up...for now

NIXON — City officials announced Friday that Feather Fest 2016 has been cancelled.

City Administrator Manuel Zepeda said he received official word from Nixon Chamber of Commerce President Denise Casas that the Chamber would not be able to plan and execute this year’s festival — which would have been in its third year after being resurrected in 2014 — and that they were turning the event back over to the city. The festival was scheduled for the first weekend in September.

Zepeda said he made the decision to cancel the festival after realizing it was too late to put it together.

“Unfortunately, most of the bands are spoken for, and I’m afraid that with less than 65 days [until Featherfest], it will be difficult to put together a successful event. Much to my disappointment, the City of Nixon will not have Feather Fest this year,” he said.

Zepeda noted that he plans to continue Feather Fest in 2017, and that he will start organizing it at the beginning of the fiscal year. He added that all revenue earned from the event will be distributed within different city departments.

Feather Fest, a city-wide festival that disappeared some two-and-a-half decades ago, again took flight on Sept. 6, 2014, treating visitors of all ages to a day of fun and games, booths and live music.

“The last time Feather Fest was held was in 1989,” Zepeda said in 2014. “And I promised the people of Nixon that if I got the job as city administrator, one of my main goals would be to restart the Feather Fest.”

Nixon is home to Holmes Foods, a chicken processing plant. Hence, the festival name is a homage to one of the city’s major industries.