The National Cherry Festival is just a few weeks away. It can mean big business for a lot of people in northern Michigan, from hotel and restaurant owners down to the kids selling pop from a cooler.

But this year there will be fewer of those kids.

A mother emailed me questioning the change.

What I found for her is the subject of tonight's Fact Finder Report.

It's the time of year when people are starting to gear up for the summer tourist season and the National Cherry Festival.

Some of those are kids selling things like pop and ice cream.

NCF Business Development Mgr. Trevor Tkach "As far as I can remember and I grew up here we had peddling, parade peddling, normally done by kids ages 10-18. We do rely on the kids to go sell to spectators especially if it's a hot day. You're going to need something to drink."

But this year festival organizers are limiting the number of kids who will be allowed to sell snacks and such.

One northern Michigan mother wrote us concerned about the change that will now keep her son from a tradition he's had for years.

She writes "the Festival Committee has evolved into a "good ol boys" club jealously hording money that should be all of ours... pocketing money for our children's clubs and college money for our entrepreneurial students willing to work hard and participate in Cherry Festival."

I asked organizers about her concerns.

Tkach says it wasn't a decision they came to quickly.

"We've noticed a severe influx over the last couple of years, probably up over 200 of these children selling and we had a concern about the safety and control measures. When you have so many people lining the sidewalk, even overflowing onto the road. When kids are walking down the streets with their wagons. If there's a couple of 300 of them being pulled up and down the sidewalks it can be a challenge and a hazard to some degree. We just want to make it safe for everyone,"

So this year, the festival will issue just 100 peddling permits and limit the ages of participants.

"we restricted the age limit to 10-14 to try and get away from bigger groups of older children who were monopolizing the situation to make it a more fair and safe situation for all kids participating."

So what do you think? Is it fair? Is it right to place new restrictions on who can sell things like this? Or should it be more open and inclusive?

Tkach says they will be reviewing this change in policy and reassess it next year. He says if it wasn't they right call they will make the necessary changes.

Festival organizers are looking for feedback on this change. What do you think about it? Leave your comments about this and other festival issues and we will pass them along to the National Cherry Festival.