Middleborough tourism committee approves Heron Run Festival permit request, vendor bids and $500 ad buy

The Town of Middleborough Tourism Committee voted Jan. 15 to authorize submission of a state permit to close Route 44 for the Heron Run Festival, to solicit bids for a company to manage road closures and to continue vendor recruitment and advertising for the April 12–13 event.

Committee members said the Heron Run is a large annual event that requires coordination across town departments, volunteers and private vendors. "It is a behemoth of an event to plan," said the committee chair (name not stated), who outlined the permits, police details and vendor logistics the festival requires. Committee members approved motions to file the road-closure permit, solicit bids to perform the closures and to spend $500 on sponsored Facebook/Instagram advertising; all motions passed unanimously.

The committee chair said the festival typically hosts about 100 vendors and stressed that the vendor-coordinator role is intensive. The chair said Anne Kavanaugh managed vendors for more than a decade and has left the role; volunteers and committee members discussed stepping into parts of that workload. A committee member who has coordinated vendors in prior years described the vendor process: organizers maintain a vendor email list, send an application, require an application plus a check to hold a booth, and assign 10-by-10 spots on a map once payment is received. Nonprofit vendors use a separate application and fee structure.

Officials discussed several operational details committee members said are required for the festival to proceed: obtaining a state permit to close Route 44 and local roads where needed; hiring a contractor to set up lane closures; coordination with the Department of Public Works and the police for signs and traffic control; permission from the Council on Aging (COA) to use COA parking for accessible parking and shuttle service; health-department approvals for food vendors; porta-potties and overnight police details to protect vendors' overnight equipment. The committee also discussed logistics such as Friday setup starting around noon, volunteer shift schedules to avoid burnout, and maps/booth-numbering for vendor check-in.

Committee members noted the COA parking lot is used so attendees with mobility limitations can take a shuttle directly to the event entrance, and discussed a COA-requested form that would require organizers to assume liability for any damage to COA property. Committee members said they prefer to review any such agreement before signing.

On advertising, members reviewed last year’s sponsored social-media results: a monthlong $500 campaign (March 13–April 13) reached about 58,000 impressions and reported 1,577 event responses; the largest demographic reached was women ages 35–44. The committee voted to allocate $500 again for sponsored Facebook/Instagram advertising.

Other administrative items approved included release of meeting minutes for Nov. 20, 2024 and Dec. 4, 2024, and payment of a $200 invoice to Angelo Lopana for tree-lighting equipment setup. Committee members also discussed volunteer recruiting, musician coordination and coordination with a private landowner (Gary Stanley) who historically opens parking on his property for a small fee.

The chair urged volunteers to coordinate vendor communications and said the committee will pass vendor materials, applications and an event map to whoever takes the vendor-coordinator responsibilities. Committee members agreed to follow up outside the meeting and bring results back to the next meeting.

The committee ended the session after approving the motions and confirming follow-up steps for vendor coordination, health-department and police coordination, and signage/parking logistics.