City Council
MEETING DATE: 4/22/2015
TITLE:
Title
Summary of the 2015 LGBT Days
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FROM:
Chris Parman, Communications/Events Manager
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Council will receive a summary report on the 2015 Cathedral City LGBT Days
Body
BACKGROUND:
The City of Cathedral City planned the premiere of Cathedral City LGBT Days for Easter Weekend, April 3-5, 2015. The council signed a proclamation on April 3, 2015 officially declaring April 3-5, 2015 as Cathedral City LGBT Days.
DISCUSSION:
Cathedral City LGBT Days was a great success for an inaugural event. More than 40 businesses sponsored the event in order to celebrate the diversity of our residents and drive traffic to our local businesses.
A committee of 12 business leaders and residents formed in early January and met weekly to plan, coordinate, and execute the activities and marketing for the Easter weekend event. Activities included an Opening Night Kickoff Reception in downtown near Bonta Restaurant & Bar to a crowd of more than 250 people. Guests enjoyed the performances of the Palm Springs Gay Men's Chorus, Blayne Bell, and Simeon Den's Dance Group. Fantasy Balloon Flights offered the perfect backdrop to the performances as the Equality Balloon provided tethered rides in the nearby Festival Lawn.
Later on Friday evening, attendees enjoyed the replay of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" at the UltraMAX Theatre and the "Bunny Bar Hop" with free shuttle courtesy of Fiat of Palm Springs.
On Saturday morning, eight teams competed during the Costume Charity Bed Race down Avenida Lalo Guerrero including City Hall Staff, Police Captain Earl Moss, and the spouses and partners of the City Council and City Manager. Trophies and prizes were handed out based on best time and decorating, to name a few. Judges included Mayor Stan Henry, Business Owner Richard Altman, and Entertainer Jersey Shore.
On Saturday afternoon, attendees enjoyed a pool party at CCBC Resort Hotel and/or iconic movies at the Mary Pickford Theatres. CCBC reported having around 500 attendees for the pool party.
On Saturday evening, the Nicolino's Restaurant hosted a Downtown Disco Party at Civic Center Plaza that featured a light show, DJ Alf Alpha, and performances by Sasha Scarlett. Although the crowd began forming shortly after 8pm and reached its peak around 9:30 pm of around 200 people, the crowd dispersed shortly after 10 pm. Many went home while others hopped on the Bunny Bar Hop shuttle service and went to the local night clubs. All of the night clubs participating reported higher than normal attendance throughout the weekend.
On Sunday morning, an Easter Bonnet contest was held on the Festival Lawn during the hours of Theater Square Market. More than a dozen people competed for prizes but several dozen people showed up wearing bonnets. At noon, an Easter Egg Hunt occurred at Town Square Park near the Fountain of Life to a crowd of more than 150 children of all ages.
AJ's on the Green, also hosted two drag shows and Easter Brunch to sell-out crowds for both shows. Almost half the audience reported being there for the first time.
On Sunday afternoon, The Barracks Bar hosted the official closing party for LGBT Days and reported a very large crowd as well.
For economic development, Cathedral LGBT Days was a big success. It brought attention to our local businesses and traffic to their doors. Bonta Restaurant & Bar reported that the Opening Kickoff Reception and those who stayed for dinner brought in their highest sales to date even when you compare it to the Hot Air Balloon Festival. Chef Hector stated that many of the Friday night guests returned Saturday specifically because he sponsored the event. LGBT Days served as a vehicle to let small establishments like AJ's on the Green to standout. It reaffirmed to the larger LGBT community that Cathedral City celebrates diversity and reminded them of the night clubs, restaurants, and LGBT-friendly businesses that supported them through this event.
The City also received a tremendous amount of goodwill and media coverage for the event. The Desert Sun wrote a wonderful article with a large photo on Saturday, April 4, 2015 paper as well as articles prior to the event. KMIR, KESQ, CBS Local 2 and Telemundo all sent reporters to cover the events and report on the local news. The event received full page and half-page ads in Frontiers Magazine (West Hollywood), Rage, Gay San Diego, Desert Daily Guide, Gay Desert Guide, Coachella Valley Independent, and 20,000 editions of Gay Entertainment Directory (San Diego, LA, SF, Phoenix, and Las Vegas). We also had 30-second event commercials running nearly 100 times on CNN, MSNBC, Food Network, Logo and Comedy Central in the Coachella Valley and Los Angeles cable markets.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Thanks to more than 40 businesses that sponsored the first annual Cathedral City LGBT Days, the event raised $13,050.00 in cash donations and prizes. Although last minute expenses are still being totaled, it appears that the City spent $4,570 plus In-kind services of public works / police on the event.
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