City Council
MEETING DATE: 5/11/2016
TITLE:
Title
FallFest
End
FROM:
Chris Parman, Communications/Events Manager
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends the approval of Special Use Permit #16-008 to allow an annual event to be named FallFest in Downtown Cathedral City.
Body
BACKGROUND:
KevaWorks, Inc. of Rancho Mirage approached the City to offer an annual event in Downtown Cathedral City called, FallFest. KevaWorks is the producer of the Tamale Festival in Indio and has produced over 3,000 events. They specialize in carnivals, music and food festivals, and community fairs for churches, malls, shopping centers, service organizations and a host of non-profits. After seeing the Balloon Festival this past February, they decided Cathedral City was the place to start this new event.
DISCUSSION:
FallFest will be a family-friendly, community event that becomes an annual tradition in Cathedral City. Proposed to take place over two weeks in late October, FallFest will include a full carnival, complete with rides and games; a pumpkin patch area celebrating the fall holiday with hay bales, scarecrows, corn stalks and pumpkins for sale; family activities such as pumpkin carving, Halloween costume contests, trick-or-treating, and arts and crafts; and finally, weekend activities to include food and craft vendors, a beer garden, and live entertainment.
FallFest will use most of our downtown area footprint. The pumpkin patch area, beer garden, and live music will occur on the Festival Lawn. Live music may occur on Friday evenings up to 10 pm, Saturday from 11 am to 10 pm, and Sunday from 12 noon to 9 pm. I emphasize "may" because they are not definite on the hours or days of live entertainment, but will abide by the cut-off times of 10 pm on weekend nights and 9 pm on Sunday evening. There is no music scheduled during the weekdays.
The carnival rides and games will take place in the vacant lot adjacent to and west of the parking structure. The only exception will be the placement of a Ferris wheel on the dirt section parallel with the Festival Lawn on the north side for dramatic effect and attention. The carnival hours will be Monday thru Thursday from 4 pm to 9 pm, Friday from 4pm to 11pm, Saturday, from 11 am to 11 pm, and Sunday from noon to 9 pm.
FallFest will include outdoor arts and crafts vendors, food trucks and stations along Avenida Lalo Guerrero and possibly Town Square Park.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Staff proposes that the City be a sponsor of FallFest and offer in-kind services such as public works support, crowd control barriers (what we currently have), portable toilets, trash service, electrical power for Avenida Lalo Guerrero and the Festival Lawn (Carnival Rides operate on their own generators), and free parking in the parking structure. FallFest will charge a small entry fee of a few dollars per person plus all ticketed items such as carnival rides and games, pumpkin purchases, food and drinks, etc… Staff has proposed that the City receive 10% of the revenue from all ticketed and purchased items for the use of the space. Application fee waived.
KevaWorks will name the City as an additional insured with a $1 million dollar coverage and the Carnival rides will provide additional insurance up to $5 million dollar coverage.
ATTACHMENTS:
SUP#16-008 and Supporting Documentation