A request from the group the Let It Shine for a license to hold the 25th annual Keene Pumpkin Festival in October is coming before the City Council this week.
The New Hampshire Union Leader reports city officials say they would not consider granting a permit to the nonprofit until it had paid its share of the 2014 bill for city services. That $90,000 bill was a result of police and public works overtime in response to riots that broke out in and around the Keene State College campus while the annual festival took place downtown last October. Those riots case doubt on the future of the festival.
In February, Let It Shine said it still had to raise $16,000. Last week, Keene State College President Anne Huot said the college would cover the unpaid portion to help move the community forward.
