How do cities within San Diego County use events to attract tourists, shoppers and increase tax revenue? Surprisingly, the answer is, cities don’t sponsor events. Even more surprising: Oftentimes cities don’t contribute any resources whatsoever.
So who’s behind major countywide events such as farmers markets, cultural gatherings and Independence Day fireworks?
In cities such as Escondido and Chula Vista, it’s the local business association that puts on the events and raises awareness, all in an effort to promote the city and the local companies.
Escondido’s largest event is Cruisin’ Grand, hosted by the city’s Downtown Business Association, or DBA. The 42-year-old nonprofit association is dedicated to ensuring the economic and cultural vitality of Escondido’s downtown, and it accomplishes both very well with Cruisin’ Grand.
Cruisin’ Grand, now in its seventh year, takes place every Friday for a six-month period every year. This year’s series of events started April 7 and continues through Sept. 29. On any given week, the event can attract between 8,000 to 15,000 people, who arrive to see pre-1974 American-made hotrods and custom, vintage and classic cars; rock out to music of the ’50s and ’60s; and dine and shop as well.
Admittedly, says the DBA’s chief executive officer, Debra Rosen, the organization could not possibly shoulder the financial burden of Cruisin’ Grand by itself. So for starters, the city of Escondido donates money to the cause, this year in the amount of $37,000. But Rosen continues, “Obviously, hosting an event every week for six months, we have to have funding because our costs are outrageous. So we will also raise another $60,000 to $70,000 a year in sponsorships.”
Corporate sponsors
Sponsorships come from large local businesses such as this year’s headline sponsor, Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort, and from the likes of Toyota of Escondido, Escondido Sand & Gravel and Valley View Casino. Attracting these sponsors hasn’t been that difficult, says Rosen, because the event has grown so large that it has received attention in many national publications. She adds that the business community is extremely active in supporting all the events that the DBA organizes, not just Cruisin’ Grand.
Jack Blakely, the executive director of the Third Avenue Village Association, or TAVA, in Chula Vista, says fund raising is also essential to putting on events within Chula Vista’s downtown area. Cox Communications Inc., the Otay Ranch master-planned community and other corporate sponsors have stepped to the plate to support TAVA.
For large, street-fair-type events, the city of Chula Vista also plays a part by providing street closures and police personnel. For example, the 10th annual Lemon Festival, which takes place in August, and Festival Cinco de Mayo, entering its ninth year, can both attract up to 15,000 people.
Blakely discloses that TAVA doesn’t track how much revenue these major events bring in, but says, “There’s no doubt that the events have an economic impact. Anytime you can put 15,000 people in front of the local small businesses, it has to be good for them, whatever the amount (of money they make) is.”
And he’s pretty certain these events are a big reason why more tax revenue is being generated for Chula Vista’s coffers. “We’re bringing more people here through better events and they’re coming back to shop in between the events,” he said. “And over the last four to five years, the sales tax that the city has collected has increased by over 37 percent.”
The events in Chula Vista are not particularly geared toward out-of-town travelers, but TAVA does promote events to the recreational vehicle parks in and around the city to continue to try to draw additional income for businesses and the city.
What about fireworks?
Fifteen thousand visitors at events such as Cruisin’ Grand or Festival Cinco de Mayo is no small potatoes, yet one North County event, Ofest in Oceanside, draws about 150,000.
Ofest is Oceanside’s Independence Day gathering, a gargantuan weekend-long event that includes a parade, carnival, seaside street fair, concerts and, of course, fireworks.
The fireworks, however, are not paid for by the city.
Kim Heim, the executive director of MainStreet Oceanside, the nonprofit company that has organized Ofest since its inception six years ago, says the city hasn’t had a fireworks presentation in its budget for 15 years, which few Oceanside residents are aware of, at least many of the residents with whom he’s spoken.
MainStreet Oceanside is not a business association like those in Escondido and Chula Vista. As Heim describes it, it is purely an event-producing organization that does just about everything for Ofest and other city events from top to bottom. The company doesn’t use outside promoters and does most of the sales and marketing from within. Although, the organization does require help to make the events a smashing success.
For the all-too-important fireworks display on July Fourth, MainStreet Oceanside started a fund-raising campaign months ahead of time, hitting up residents and business owners. For other aspects of Ofest, however, MainStreet Oceanside operates very similarly to a business association by seeking out corporate sponsors and receiving assistance from the city.
“We shut down a large portion of downtown for the event,” Heim said. “We could not do it without the support of the city.”
The city doesn’t support all of MainStreet Oceanside’s events, but that hasn’t slowed the organization down. According to Heim, five years ago the organization took revenue that it had earned from events it had held throughout the year and put a portion of that into supporting the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival in late fall. That move paid off tremendously for Oceanside, because the festival has grown fast , from 20,000 attendees two years ago to about 45,000 last year.
No matter how these city events are put together, generally they equate to a win-win situation for all involved. As Rosen of Escondido’s Downtown Business Association says, “These events put feet on the street and traffic in our business owners’ locations. And then that transfers into tax revenue for our city.”
Jon Hindman is a freelance writer based in Poway.
