Friends of Conroe’s Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival will have to look for a new venue after Conroe City Council decided the festival will no longer take place in downtown during its Nov. 14 meeting.

How we got here

Friends of Conroe has hosted the annual Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival in downtown Conroe for 35 years, according to a Nov. 22 news release posted via Facebook.

In a presentation during the council’s Nov. 13 workshop meeting, Assistant City Administrator Nancy Mikeska said fire and security concerns are the main reasons the festival should not be hosted downtown anymore.

By the numbers


The total cost for the city to host the festival is $58,028, according to Mikeska’s presentation, which includes:
  • $25,000 for Conroe Visitor Bureau services
  • $21,770 for police services
  • $6,437 for fire services
  • $4,820 for public works services
During her presentation, Mikeska also said businesses downtown reported losing money during the festival and said that the festival had more negative than positive impacts.

The fire department also logged 75 hours of overtime, while the police department logged 347 overtime hours during the festival, according to the presentation.

What they’re saying
  • “My concern is the brick and mortar restaurants and businesses downtown are losing money,” council member Marsha Porter said during the Nov.13 workshop. “My second major concern is, this is historic downtown Conroe, and if we can't get a fire truck in, that's a major safety concern for me ... just those two items right there are huge for me.”
  • “I would hate for the Crighton Theatre to burn down because a fire truck couldn't get to it,” council member David Hairel said during the Nov. 13 workshop.
  • “I've been downtown for 28 years, and I remember a time when the Catfish Festival flourished. I didn't attend this year's festival, but I hear the numbers are down considerably,” Mayor Duke Coon said during the Nov.13 workshop. “What I have heard personally from many of our vendors is that their revenue was severely impeded this time. So that's a concern that came to me just right after the festival, just three or four days after the festival was over.”
One more thing

Friends of Conroe are actively looking for a new site to host the festival, according to the news release.


"We are excited about this new direction and are determined to make the festival's next chapter even more impactful," Friends of Conroe stated via news release. "While this change is bittersweet, it presents an incredible opportunity to reimagine the festival and expand its reach and success."