History Celebrating 22 Years
Kimberly natives Jim Boots and Dennis Smits came up with the idea of Paperfest in 1989. It began as a shared vision for a free, family-oriented festival that would involve and appeal to all generations.
Paperfest has grown tremendously in 21 years. Today, 12 highly energized and committed Paperfest board members and numerous volunteer committee members work together to plan and orchestrate this annual celebration.
Paperfest is a unique four-day family festival held at beautiful Sunset Park in Kimberly, Wisconsin. A wide variety of activities and music offer suitable entertainment for all ages. Everyone is welcome and no admission is charged. Paperfest draws more than 25,000 attendees over the four-day event. The festival is run entirely by volunteers and all proceeds from the event go back to the community. Throughout its 21-year history, the festival has raised over $580,000 for local nonprofit and civic organizations.
It works like this: Volunteers register to represent the civic, community, and service organizations of their choice. Each volunteer's hours are tracked over the four-day event. Paperfest then compensates the represented nonprofit organizations according to how many hours were worked on their behalf. The goal for 2010, our 22nd year, is to raise $50,000 for local nonprofit and civic organizations.