The Blossom Festival is back in the black, with between $10,000 and $15,000 profit already.
Festival chairwoman Clair Higginson said yesterday at this stage of the festival, with only one major event still to be held, the committee was confident the event would remain on the right side of the ledger.
"The only major event still to run is WoolOn and, from our accounts running for that event, it's already breaking even or better, so we're confident we'll finish the festival with a profit.
"We're happy with the figure of $10,000-$15,000 profit so far and delighted with the community involvement that has been so instrumental in a good outcome this year."
Three years of successive losses called into question the future of the festival earlier this year, with the event being declared insolvent.
A public meeting in early March confirmed the public's support for the festival to continue and the Vincent Community Board later agreed to bail it out, by paying off the 2009 festival debt.
Ms Higginson, who is also the board chairwoman, said the festival committee was conscious of meeting two main goals this year - making the festival break even, and getting more public involvement.
It appeared to have met both those goals.
The float procession on Saturday, traditionally the focus of the festival, attracted a good crowd, with about 10,000 people paying to enter the Pioneer Park entertainment area.
"Our ultimate goal was to get together a nest egg, a seeding fund, for the 2011 festival, and it looks like that will happen.
"We're over the hump, the community has bought into the event and we can be optimistic about its future," Ms Higginson said.
Planning for the 2011 event would begin in November.
The financial success of this year's event was due to a team effort, which included the contribution of the board, the festival sponsors, the donations by service clubs, from the Alexandra Community Ball, the public appeal and the public's support, she said.
The festival committee had pared back the budget, with expenditure less than $250,000 for this year's event, compared with last year's outlay of more than $350,000.
"It's fair to say that we've looked local, valuing our local assets rather than looking outside the area.
"Probably, we had to go through this process to learn that our local assets are the biggest ones."
The committee had been careful in its planning, in measuring its finances and in ensuring the festival met the requirements of the community, she said.
