# Is Christmas Prelude too big for Kennebunkport? Town debates rising costs

**By:** Portsmouth Herald  
**Published:** 2026-03-09T09:05:02.477040963Z  
**Source:** [Portsmouth Herald](https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/york-star/2026/03/09/kennebunkport-maine-christmas-prelude-rising-costs-event-grows/88983738007)

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KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — Is it time to scale back on the scope of [Christmas Prelude](https://christmasprelude.com/) and pull back on the beloved festival’s reliance on local resources?

Members of the [Kennebunkport Select Board](https://www.kennebunkportme.gov/government/board_of_selectmen.php) broached that question during their meeting on Feb. 26, when they discussed the town’s support for large, special events during the coming fiscal year.

Board members briefly mentioned such events as the annual Memorial Day observances and Fourth of July celebrations, as well as local bike and road races, but they kept their focus on Prelude once the two-weekend holiday festival came up.

Prelude, as a few mentioned at the meeting, started as a small, local celebration in the early 1980s to show appreciation to the community after the busy summer-and-fall tourist season. At one point, however, the festival grew in duration and in its scope of events – and, especially, in the number of people who started attending from around the country and the world.

As a result, the town has had to spend more money and resources to provide security at the event, drawing on not just local public-safety personnel, but those of neighboring communities, according to Town Manager Laurie Smith and Police Chief Chris Simeoni. And, in some cases, help from out of town receives more pay from their communities than Kennebunkport is able to offer its staffers.

“In the past couple of years, we’ve had to ramp up security around Prelude, both because of the crowds and also because the world has changed and security levels need to be different,” she said.

Board members, business owners, and residents all responded to the situation with varying opinions about Prelude’s impact on the town’s resources, local business, and the quality of life for residents.

## 'I don't think Rockefeller Center has two tree-lightings'

Board Chair Jon Dykstra said he saw two issues when it comes to Prelude: the intensity of work that municipal employees must do, and the cost to the town.

“I would like to see us lessen the call on our staff,” Dykstra said. “There are two tree lightings. There’s a hat parade. There’s a pooch parade. Move two of those. Have Kennebunk share that with us.”

On the “dollars and cents side,” Dykstra suggested that the Kennebunkport Business Association (KBA) could pick up some of the tab for security.

“I would hope that the Prelude folks, the KBA, would be willing to pick up the detail pay for those hours that they do charge or burden our staff with,” he said.

Select Board Vice Chair Marybeth Gilbert said Prelude has “gotten too big” for the resources within the town.

“We need to limit the pressure on our very small workforce,” Gilbert said. “That, to me, means dialing it back, and then, by default, not funding as much.”

Gilbert said that the town is looking at whether this coming fiscal year to provide as much as $30,000 in taxpayer dollars for Prelude, an event to which “a lot of our residents aren’t going to anymore.”

“I’m in the view that I want to dial this back,” she said.

Board member David Bancroft said he fully understood the business owners’ perspective of Prelude. He said that, for many businesses, Prelude provides their two busiest weekends of the year.

“I fully believe that Prelude is a wonderful opportunity for the businesses in town,” he said. “I would think we need to be very sensitive to that.”

Bancroft suggested, however, that there could be some ways to dial back on Prelude or move some of the events out of Dock Square. He mentioned that Prelude now has two tree lightings and suggested perhaps one might do.

“I don’t think Rockefeller Center has two tree lightings,” Bancroft noted. “There are ways of dialing this back and getting back to the roots a little bit and still have as good an experience and save the town some money, with the understanding that we are trying to make sure the businesses are making as much money as they can.”

Select Board member Allen Daggett said there was “one thing” people needed to understand about Kennebunkport: business owners rely on summer, fall, and Prelude to keep their shops and restaurants up and running.

“The business community makes their money about six or seven months out of the year, and they have to pay bills for 12 months,” Daggett said. “They have to be able to make money. If they don’t make money, they’re not going to be in business. It’s as simple as that.”

Board member Joe Moan said Kennebunkport has a long tradition of being a “tourist town.” He said he is wondering how to support local businesses and the business community as a whole without subsidizing them.

“We want to be supportive, and we want to provide a safe environment for visitors to our town, and we want businesses to thrive,” Moan said. “But I don’t know to what extent the town taxpayers should be underwriting the businesses or Prelude or any event.”

## Organizers says Prelude 'is not just for businesses'

Tina Hewitt-Gordon, the president of the Kennebunkport Business Association and the general manager of The Nonantum Resort on Ocean Avenue, thanked the town for supporting Prelude all these years but made sure to make a distinction.

“It is, as you have noted, a large economic engine, but this is not just a for-profit for the business community here,” Hewitt-Gordon said. “This event represents so much more to this community... It’s not just the businesses.”

Hewitt-Gordon said the KBA does not want to tax the town’s resources if there are areas in which Prelude could be curtailed or its footprint could expand beyond Dock Square, Ocean Avenue, and Lower Village and into Kennebunk.

“These are all things that I think are on the table for us to discuss,” she said. “I just hope we’re able to be part of the discussion, so that we can make these discussions together.”

Any decisions made “in haste” would have a “ripple effect” in more areas than “people actually understand,” Hewitt-Gordon said.

## Residents offer differing views on Christmas Prelude

Resident Robin Phillips said the quality of life in Kennebunkport decreases during Prelude.

“I can’t get to the post office,” Phillips said, referring to the crowds and traffic. “That’s a pain.”

Phillips said a lot of people find the local business community intimidating and are afraid to speak out about how they feel impacted by the festival.

“Someone has to say our quality of life is important,” she said. “We live here.”

Phillips said the festival lasts too long. She referred to the addition of a second tree-lighting event at the festival and circled back to her ability to get to the post office.

“When they added the second tree-lighting, you just don’t get your mail for two weeks,” she said. “I mean, you should be able to get your mail.”

Another resident, Susan Graham, praised Gordon-Hewitt for all she does for Prelude as head of the Kennebunkport Business Association.

“I think Tina deserves a tremendous amount of credit for what she has done,” Graham said. “Years ago, people begged the business association to spread out the events... They were asked not to cram everything into that one first weekend. So, let’s give them credit for doing that instead of criticizing them for trying to spread it out.”

Toward the end of the discussion, one resident, Rob Wengel, called in to the meeting and said he was shocked by the way some people had been speaking about Prelude.

“I’d love to see the data and the facts that indicate that this is no longer a community event and that residents of this town don’t appreciate it,” Wengel said.

Wengel said he wanted to know how many complaints the town has gotten about Prelude. He also said he wanted to know whether the town has held focus groups, conducted surveys, and talked to both year-round residents and taxpayers who own homes.

Wendel urged the town to get facts and not just rely on anecdotes and a few complaints before making any changes to Prelude.

“There’s a reason it’s popular,” Wengel said of Prelude. “It’s appealing. It’s appealing to residents. It’s appealing to visitors. It’s appealing to taxpayers who come back here with their families and friends for this event.”

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