The beloved Midtown Village Fall Festival is not returning this year in Philadelphia.

"We always made a big deal out of it," said Lori Smith, owner of Kilwins Philadelphia.

It's been an annual tradition and a big business day for shops in the area.

"You basically have a captive audience and then it becomes to me as a business owner, how do I capitalize on that?" Smith said.

This year, Smith and small business owners won't have that chance.

Organizers from the Midtown Village Merchants Association told the community the festival won't be returning this year.

"Everybody got a boost out of it," said Fergus Carey, owner of Fergie's Pub and president of Midtown Village Merchants Association.

Carey blames rising costs and a lack of sponsors for the cancellation of the beloved tradition.

Carey said the association board was also in talks with other neighborhood business organizations to try to put something in place of the festival.

"We were trying to do an Open Streets type version this year and the Center City District would lend us their barriers and equipment and keep our costs down, but the dates didn't work out for them and for us at the same time," Carey said.

While the fall festival is canceled this year, organizers and businesses alike are hopeful it'll be back next year.

"Next year is the 250th anniversary of the United States of America and here, we are the birthplace … it'd be great if we got help from the city to do a lot of little, small, neighborhood things," Carey said.

In the meantime, Smith is asking the community to still come out and support the area.

"Make a day of it and maybe if you mention it to business owners, they might give you a little perk," she said.