ST. GEORGE — An annual celebration of dragon slayer St. George, England's patron saint and the namesake of the Staten Island neighborhood, is under threat because of lack of funds.
Organizers have started a campaign to raise money to make sure the 10th event on April 23 happens after it failed to get grants.
The free event, which takes over a section of St. George's Bay Street dubbed "Little Bay Street" next to Tompkinsville Park, will bring music, kids crafts, and a dragon parade to the neighborhood.
After organizers failed to get their usual grant to cover things like permit fees, portable toilets and insurance, they started an Indiegogo campaign this month to raise $2,000.
"Usually we have someone that steps up and volunteers to apply for grants and funding like a year in advance," said Melissa West, an organizer of the event.
"This year, a lot of people who are volunteers are really busy. It just wasn't possible to get somebody to apply for the funding."
Despite a lack of grants, West said volunteers still wanted to put on the event, which celebrates the neighborhood and Earth Day.
"People really love the festival and want to keep it going," West said. "We’re scaling it a little back and we’re trying to raise the money."
Donors get rewards including free tea, a tarot card reading or a dragon T-shirt from previous festivals.
This year, the festival won't take place in Tompkinsville Park but on the closed section of Bay Street and it will only have one stage, West said.
Despite the loss of the park, organizers still plan to have the same schedule of events as in previous years.
The festival will have live music, a dance movement circle, yoga, a traditional Chinese lion dance, the MakerSpace STEAM Wagon and Earth Day activities, West said.
The day culminates with a parade of a 10- to 15-foot dragon puppet retelling the myth of St. George and the dragon.
Instead of St. George slaying the dragon that lived in a lake, the festival's version has the pair resolving their problems non-violently.
So far the group has raised nearly $900 of its hoped-for $2,000, and West said it will hold the festival regardless of whether they reach their monetary goal.
The free St. George Day Festival will be on April 23 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
