FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) The decades old Three Rivers Festival (TRF) may have run its course as a staple of summer in downtown Fort Wayne. Whether the festival continues to exist at all is also uncertain. So what's the reason? If you believe TRF organizers, funding challenges, revitalization efforts downtown, a scarcity of parking and construction congestion are to blame. And because of that, the TRF wants the City of Fort Wayne to forgive debt owed and to pay back money that's already been handed over to the city as part of the expenses associated with running the festival. Back on November 8, TRF sent a letter to Deputy Mayor Karl Bandemer which followed up a meeting held with him in October. The letter indicated that funding is the festival's greatest challenge and that it's future downtown is at risk. TRF noted that since its inception in 1969, the mission and goal has been to help revitalize downtown. The following quote from the letter sums up the board's concerns. The letter also asked the City to forgive a $38,225.97 in debt still owed and to return $30,425.00 that's already been paid. I think we all agreed at our meeting with you that our beautiful downtown area has been revitalized! So much so that it has brought about unintended consequences, resulting in prohibitive planning constraints for the TRF. We were forced to move a major component of our festival, losing critical infrastructure, and it was catastrophic for the festival this year. Sara Roach, Board President, Three Rivers Festival. The festival did move Junk Food Alley and the Midway from its previous locations. On November 18, Bandemer wrote back to the festival. He noted that the only plausible future location would "more than likely be Lawton Park," which is located just north of downtown. Agreeing to cancel debt would only be possible if a feasible business plan going forward was formulated. Accordingly, it is not clear to me what your plan is for the festival going forward. Karl Bandemer, Deputy Mayor, City of Fort Wayne The two sides have not communicated since then according to a spokesperson for the City of Fort Wayne. In its November 8 letter, TRF did indicate locations other than downtown might be an option and it's continuing to work on funding options.