AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: April 22, 2025
Item Number:
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Matthew Brown, Recreation Services Manager
Corrina Lesser, Recreation Supervisor
Subject: RECOMMENDATION BY ARTS AND CULTURE COMMISSION
COUNCIL LIAISONS MIRISCH AND WELLS TO HOLD THE 2025
FESTIVAL BEVERLY HILLS ON JULY 20, 2025
Attachments: 1. March 20, 2025 Arts and Culture Commission Council Liaison Meeting Report
RECOMMENDATION
Arts and Culture Commission Council Liaisons Mirisch and Wells supported the Arts and Culture Commission’s recommendation that the third annual Festival Beverly Hills take place on Sunday, July 20, 2025, at Beverly Gardens Park, at a similar size and scale to the 2024 event. Council Liaisons recommend $18,000 of event costs be funded by the City’s Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenue.
INTRODUCTION
The third annual Festival Beverly Hills is scheduled for Sunday, July 20, 2025, from 12:00pm – 6:00pm at Beverly Gardens Park, which falls on the same summer weekend as the event was held in 2024. This would mark the second consecutive year the event is held at Beverly Gardens Park, after the inaugural Festival Beverly Hills was launched on March 12, 2023, held at the Beverly Hills Farmers Market per the direction of the then Council Liaisons.
With the direction of the Council Liaisons, and support of the City Council, Festival Beverly Hills was relocated from the Beverly Hills Farmers Market to Beverly Gardens Park, to place the event in a dynamic park location well-known as both a visitor and tourist destination, adjacent to the City’s visitor core. The 2024 Festival Beverly Hills lineup featured more than 20 cultures and over 25 performances across three stages, spanning two park blocks, which accommodated dining areas, spaces for workshops, experiential programs, art making and partner booths, as well as the performance stages. Attendance was estimated at approximately 3,000 people throughout the duration of the event, making for a lively and energetic event space.
Meeting Date: April 22, 2025
DISCUSSION
The event planning strategy for this third iteration of the festival was developed at the direction and advisement of the Arts and Culture Commission Annual Events Ad Hoc Committee members Chair Gordy Bristol and Vice Chair Pamela Beck. When planning meetings commenced for the upcoming third annual event last fall, the Ad Hoc Committee articulated the following priorities for the 2025 festival:
• Continue engagement and collaboration with Los Angeles area cultural organizations to highlight and showcase a range of cultures within the festival • Identify artists and elements that represent and highlight the cultural demographics of Beverly Hills
• Include pop-up dance performance and elements of spectacle throughout the festival
Mirroring the success of last year, the marketing and promotional strategy for Festival Beverly Hills will focus on the following to both inform the local community and expand event awareness around the Southern California region:
• Pre-event and post-event press releases to over 70 media outlets announcing, promoting, and recapping the festival
• Festival Beverly Hills postcards distributed to local businesses, hotels, and at Community Services and City-wide summer events
• Event signage at City parking garages
• Digital advertising and event boosts on social media including Facebook and Instagram
• Weekly social media campaigns leading up to the July 20 event including artist spotlights and a curated music playlist
• Digital communications to Arts and Culture Division email lists that reach approximately 18,000 people
• Digital and/or print advertising in regional publications that focus on event and cultural destinations across the region
• Coordination with Festival partner organizations, artists, and food trucks to promote the event to their networks
At the March 20, 2025, Arts and Culture Commission Liaison meeting, Council Liaisons supported the recommendations of staff and the Arts and Culture Commission, to host the third annual Festival Beverly Hills on Sunday, July 20, 2025, at Beverly Gardens Park, and recommended that staff bring forward an appropriation request for $18,000 to keep the budget allocated for the event the same as last year. The recommendation was made by the Liaisons to fund the appropriation request through the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenue, to host the event at the same size, scale, and budget as in 2024.
Given the location of the event, and the event occurring in July, typically a popular month for visitors to Beverly Hills, Council Liaisons recommended partnering, or coordinating our promotional efforts for the event, within the overall promotion of July tourism activities through the Beverly Hills Conference and Visitors Bureau, local hotels, and avenues promoting tourism in Beverly Hills. Council Liaisons also provided some direction on the nature of the cultural roots of the festival, including the desire to ensure the event remains Meeting Date: April 22, 2025
multi-cultural, and to prioritize the continued representation of additional cultures in the execution of the festival lineups.
FISCAL IMPACT
In 2024, Festival Beverly Hills was funded at $47,000 allocated in the 2024-25 Community Services Department operating budget, with an additional $18,000 provided by Policy and Management, which allowed Community Services to cover the additional costs of relocating the event to Beverly Gardens Park at a total event budget of $65,000 without bringing an appropriation request forward.
For the 2025 Festival Beverly Hills, the Community Services Department once again has $47,000 allocated within the proposed 2025-26 operating budget. An additional $18,000 in funding would be required to maintain the event at the same scale as in 2024. In accordance with the proposal by the Arts and Culture Commission Liaisons, this amount would be allocated from Policy and Management’s existing tourism and marketing budget, which is funded by Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenue.
Stephanie Harris,
Director of Community Service
Approved By
Attachment 1