Elberta, Ala. — (OBA) —  The Elberta German Sausage Festival is getting new management. The Town of Elberta and its municipal volunteer fire department will take responsibility for organizing the longtime community event. Elberta Community Partners will step aside as the event's organizer. The nonprofit says it will cooperate with the transition.

The change will begin with the October 2026 festival. The Town recently told Elberta Community Partners (ECP) that it preferred that town employees and members of the municipal volunteer fire department coordinate and operate future festivals.

The fire department became a municipal department under Town control in August 2025. Before that change, the festival had traditionally been managed by the department. The festival serves as a community event and fundraiser that primarily benefits the department.

ECP Chairman Seth Fuller said the organization believes its leadership is better suited to manage the event because its members have nearly 100 years of combined experience with the Elberta Volunteer Fire Department and in festival management. However, ECP has agreed to the Town's request rather than challenge the decision.

“While we do feel that ECP is better suited to manage this event due to our leadership's nearly 100-year combined experience as members of the Elberta Volunteer Fire Department and managing the festival, we also feel that it is in nobody's best interest to fight,” Fuller said.

The Town and the municipal fire department will now be responsible for the festival, which will continue to benefit the fire department. ECP plans to work with town officials over the coming weeks to ensure an orderly transfer of operations.

Organizers said they had not met deadlines to enter into agreements with suppliers, entertainment providers, and others for the October festival. That means the Town will receive what ECP describes as a clean slate and be able to make its own decisions about the event.

ECP also said it would not take actions that could impose obligations on the Town or create unnecessary financial costs during the transition.

Funds held in festival accounts by EVFD Inc. and ECP will be transferred to the Town as soon as practical after the written agreements are completed. ECP also plans to work with officials to transfer the festival trademarks and wordmarks it currently holds.

ECP also intends to transfer control of a new festival phone app and related information once a written agreement is reached.

The change could affect vendors and sponsors differently. ECP said it has a verbal agreement with the Town indicating that officials intend to honor the terms and conditions accepted by arts and crafts vendors when they submitted their applications.

The situation involving food vendors remains unsettled. ECP said it is waiting to learn whether the Town can honor the terms previously agreed upon by those vendors. Organizers said they will provide updates as more information becomes available.

All festival sponsors have been refunded. ECP said it does not know whether the Town will establish its own sponsorship program or what it might include. Questions can be directed to festival@elbertafire.com. 

Despite the management disagreement, Fuller expressed strong support for the Town of Elberta Volunteer Fire Department and praised Chief Vanbrimmer and Deputy Chief Staimpel.

“Chief Vanbrimmer and Deputy Chief Staimpel are exceptional men, and have a great passion for what they do,” Fuller said. “Both of them basically grew up in the firehouse, and their leadership of the fire department should make the entire community proud.”

ECP encouraged residents to continue supporting the department and the festival under its new management. The organization also urged people to consider volunteering with the fire department, which is recruiting new members.

The current festival organizers said they have spent years improving and modernizing the event while maintaining its role as a fundraiser for the fire department.

Many of the organizers grew up attending the festival and said they wanted future generations to have similar memories. They also credited previous organizers with laying the foundation that allowed the festival to grow.

“As kids, we all grew up attending the festival and remembering how special it is, and we always wanted to make it special for future generations,” Fuller said. “We genuinely hope that the same respect is carried forward in the operation of this event in the future.”

Fuller said the transition closes one chapter in the festival's history while offering the opportunity for another under the Town's management.

Although ECP will no longer operate the Elberta German Sausage Festival, the organization said it plans to continue collaborating with the Town of Elberta on other community initiatives.

“We wish nothing but the best for this event, and we would never do anything to harm something that we, and many others, have all worked so hard over the past almost 3 decades to help build,” Fuller said.