By Abby Luby
The Village Board of Trustees unanimously approved funding for next summer’s famous backyard jam on July 11, 2026, celebrating the Pleasantville Music Festival’s 20th anniversary.
At the board’s regular meeting Monday night, trustees authorized $120,000 for festival talent and additional funds for setting up ticket sales and village services. Within an hour of the board’s approval, the Pleasantville Music Festival group issued a press release announcing the Parkway Field July event.
The board has had ongoing debates over the last several months about whether to fund the 2026 music festival, since last July’s event lost $103,997. It was the fourth year in a row the festival ended in the red. The last positive net income for the 2019 festival was $40,348.
Pleasantville Mayor Peter Scherer said the board had spent several hours discussing whether to go ahead with the music festival.
“We’ve had quite a bit of back and forth about the question of to do another musical festival and if so how,” Scherer said. “We have decided to give it a go, contingent on a couple of different new developments.”
Objecting to village funds being spent on the festival was Pleasantville resident Tom Rooney.
“I’m not opposed to the music festival, but I am opposed to losing great amounts of money for the last several years,” Rooney told the board. “How can we, the residents, approve something such as that, whereas it’s costing us all this money to run it? If it can’t sustain itself then maybe it shouldn’t be.”
Rooney pointed out that the weather (which can impact festival attendance, as something the village can’t control, and perhaps taxpayers’ money could be much better spent on something else.
“I don’t know where the money comes from – that $100,000,” said Rooney. “But maybe there should be some kind of ongoing fund that will fund a great loss like that. More thought should go into having this music festival.”
Board Trustee Nicole Asquith acknowledged the issues Rooney raised.
“The concerns you are expressing are concerns we all share,” Asquith told Rooney. “It was once able to sustain itself, but there have been a number of changes to the fan landscape that have made it more challenging. We’ve committed to one year at this point. But that doesn’t mean we’ve committed indefinitely to going forward.”
Asquith referred to former festival director Bruce Figler, who spoke at last month’s village board meeting in support of holding a July music festival with the prospect of the village breaking even.
“Bruce Figler was confident that it would be less likely to incur a loss since it’s the festival’s 20th anniversary,” Asquith noted.
Although Scherer agreed with Rooney overall, he voiced some confidence for possible future festivals.
“I do think we can spend some money if we can get this to the point where it is coming along better,” Scherer said. “Yes, the weather is a constant fear, and there are a whole lot of variables. But I’ve said from day one, it’s too big for us to do and too good not to do it.”
A recent village analysis showed revenue losses were $86,566 in 2024, $57,638 in 2023, and $39,987 in 2022. Because of COVID, the festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021. Escalating fees of hiring name bands have contributed to raised festival costs.
“In the life of the festival there’s been up years and down years in the arc of time when we hoped to even out,” Scherer said. “Clearly that’s not happened in the last two years, and there’s some specific reasons for it as well as some unknowable reasons.”
Ticket prices are close to last year’s, ranging from $40 to $90 depending on when purchased. Kids 11 and under are free. Early bird sales (Dec. 23–April 18, 2026) will cost $50 for village residents, $60 for general admission, and $40 for students and seniors. From April 19 to July 10, 2026, general admission will be $70, and $40 for students and seniors. General admission will be $80 a week before the festival and $50 for students and seniors. The most expensive tickets are those purchased the day of the festival: $90 for general admission, up $5 from last year, and $60 for students and seniors.
Winter pre-sale tickets are now on sale at www.pleasantvillemusicfestival.com or can be picked up in person at the Festival Box Office in the village’s Rec Center at 48 Marble Avenue in Pleasantville (next to Parkway Field), open Monday–Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Discounted tickets are available to Pleasantville residents with valid proof of residency at the box office only. All discounted pricing ends once the lineup is announced in the spring.
“Among the intangible benefits, it is a really prominent thing in the minds of many about Pleasantville, New York,” Scherer said. “It’s a great, great day, and I can tell you a lot of people who go there, including a lot of our residents, say it’s one of the best days of the year for them.”
