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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVillagefest - PresentationPrepared by: Jasmine Waits Faith Roche Daniel Gonnella THEN •VillageFest has served the Palm Springs community & visitors for 30 years •The event was on hiatus during the Covid-19 shutdown for 16 months •VillageFest reopened in July 2021 •Since vendors and downtown merchants were absent from the event for over a year, all vendors had to re-apply and be re-juried before rejoining •The VillageFest staff and board worked fiercely for a couple months leading up to the opening to recruit merchants and vendors as well as to assist with applications and jury former and prospective vendors in preparation for the July 2021 reopening •Part of the original festival footprint could not be accessed at the time of the opening due to restaurant parklets •VillageFest opened in July 2021 with a reduced footprint due to a reduction in vendor subscriptions as well as physical restrictions due to the presence of parklets. NOW •While some parklets still remain, many of the restaurants have resumed on- premise dining, hence eliminating some parklets and enabling expansion back to the original VillageFest footprint •Recruiting new vendors has elevated the variety and diversity of craft, art and food offerings at VillageFest (e.g. an authentic Italian Pizza vendor making fresh pizzas to order) •While many local families, tourists and visitors can be seen walking the festival on Thursday nights, we have our sights set on attracting more of our locals into the festival as well as marketing the event to a wider visitor base •We anticipate that diversification of our offerings presents a fresh look and feel to the festival so residents and visitors who have already been to VillageFest a number of times won’t view it as “been there, done that” and have a reason to come back •In addition to continuing to recruit new vendors we are currently working on developing more programs and events FORWARD VIEW •We are planning to reinstate the Halloween costume contest and parade. It’s a great family-friendly activity and our youth love it! •Other programs we intend to reinstate include: •Youth Art Program (you may recall banners on light posts along Palm Canyon) •VillageFest Poster Art Contest (VillageFest artists, local artists, youth artists) •Annual BIRTHDAY Celebration where we distribute over 2000 cupcakes to the community •May the 4th be with You --Star Wars Day •More to come… •Our future goals include (but are not limited to): •Expanding the festival footprint and appeal… •Further diversifying the food offerings and dining accommodation for festival goers and making VillageFest a dinner plan option for community members and visitors to meet up and spend the evening •Finding ways to partner with other boards, commissions and local events SUMMARY •VillageFest popularity has not suffered as a result of covid, in fact outdoor venues are more desirable to some in our post- covid society •The VillageFest board maintains the stamina and momentum that enabled us to revive the event post-covid and our members are energized to elevate all that VillageFest can offer to the community. Sincere thanks for the privilege of your time this evening