The Katy Rice Festival planned for Oct. 12-14 is under new management that promises the fall celebration of the community’s history and tradition will return to the way it used to be.

The city of Katy is partnering with the Rotary Club of Katy to produce this year’s festival after the longtime organizer of the Katy Rice Harvest Festival, the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce, announced in June that the 37th annual event last October was its last.

Online reports of the festival closing and then the city stepping forward to organize this year’s event drew hundreds of comments on Facebook. Some commenters remembered the early days of the festival and described recent festivals as too commercial.

“The avenue that we want to take is a first-class festival, good arts and craft vendors, a great carnival, good entertainment, excellent food and music” said Kayce L. Reina, city of Katy director of tourism, marketing and public relations. “Our goal is not to be commercialized.”

Even if the festival is smaller in size than in recent years, the quality will be good, she said. Some commercial businesses may have a booth at the festival but it will feature an activity such as face painting, she said. “We’re trying to limit those types of booths and implement some of the things gone by the wayside.”

The Rotary Club of Katy is providing its manpower and knowledge of how to run a successful event, said Chris Garcia, club president, “to restore the Katy Rice Festival back to what it used to be — a fun, family event that is inexpensive to get into and filled with craft vendors and not necessarily salespeople.”

More Information Want to Go? What: Katy Rice Festival When: Oct. 12-14 Where: Historic Katy downtown Hours: Friday 6-11 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. and Sunday noon to 6 p.m. Admission: Free on Friday and $5 each Saturday and Sunday. Ages 12 and younger admitted free

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The Wild West Brewfest produced in May by the Rotary Club of Katy, was named the Top Beer Festival in North America in 2018, the third consecutive year that BeerYeti.com has awarded that honor to Katy. The club will bring its trailer from which it will serve beer, said Garcia, with a beer garden on the opposite side of the venue.

Festival admission will be $5 for adults Oct. 13-14 with ages 12 and younger admitted free. The festival will be open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon-6 p.m. on Sunday.

People will be able to visit the festival — minus vendors — for free on Friday from 6-11 p.m., said Reina. The evening will include live music, a carnival, food trucks and beer garden.

Sept. 14 is the deadline for vendors to sign up for the festival and for participants to enter the Katy Rice Festival parade. Visit https://tinyurl.com/ybdzcd8x and www.katyricefestival.com/vendors for information and applications.

“We’re still getting in a lot of (vendor) applications,” said Reina, who added that there is still plenty of space. Parade entries have been slow and Reina said organizers are starting to push the parade more. Volunteers also are needed.

The parade day and route both have been changed. The parade formerly was the weekend before the festival and began at Fifth and East Avenue, proceeded downtown past city hall and ended at Avenue D and 10th Street. This year the 1.5-mile parade will begin at 9 a.m. Oct. 13, the Saturday of the festival, at Avenue D and 10th Street, proceed east on 10th Street, south on Drexel and west on Fifth Street.

Reina said people can enjoy the parade which will be north of the festival and then walk to the festival and its activities.

A stage will be located at Avenue B and Third Street and feature live entertainment. The festival has neither time nor money to fill two stages, she said, adding that “the carnival is going to be great.” Other features include a VIP air-conditioned tent in which beer and wine will be served. Admission to the tent comes at an additional fee. Food vendors will be limited to 15 with most of them food trucks.

New features include a rice-cooking competition for entrees and desserts. Judging will be on Friday with winners announced Saturday. The festival also has added an art competition. “The whole goal is to use rice as the theme,” said Reina. The art entry could be a photo of rice or something created out of rice.

“We want a good quality experience for residents and our visitors,” said Reina. “The big thing is to put on a good festival and give back to the Katy community.”

Proceeds from this year’s festival will be earmarked for the Rotary Club of Katy to use on local projects including scholarships, said Garcia. “We’re looking forward to a great event and partnering with the City of Katy long term.”

karen.zurawski@chron.com