AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: February 11, 2026
Corrina Lesser, Recreation Supervisor
Subject: RECOMMENDATION BY ARTS AND CULTURE COMMISSION
COUNCIL LIAISONS MIRISCH AND WELLS FOR THE 2026
FESTIVAL BEVERLY HILLS ON JULY 12, 2026
Attachments: 1. 01.26.26 Arts and Culture Commission Council Liaison Meeting Report
RECOMMENDATION
Arts and Culture Commission Liaisons Mirisch and Wells recommend that the fourth annual Festival Beverly Hills take place on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Beverly Gardens Park, at a similar size and scale to the 2025 event, along with support for a $25,000 budget enhancement request to be brought forward at a later date through the budget process to provide the necessary event infrastructure, and incorporation of new elements, celebrating the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and Route 66 Centennial, in Los Angeles.
INTRODUCTION
Festival Beverly Hills is a globally inspired arts and performance festival, which aims to celebrate and showcase the range of dynamic cultures that call the City of Beverly Hills and Southern California home. Through performances, family-friendly workshops, activities, and culinary offerings, Festival Beverly Hills exemplifies the city as a world-class arts and cultural destination. The objective of the Arts and Culture Commission and Community Services Department staff for the fourth annual Festival Beverly Hills is to build upon the success of the previous three years and continue to elevate Festival Beverly Hills as a cultural destination for both the Beverly Hills community and the Greater Southern California region.
Item Number: D-4
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Matthew Brown, Recreation Services Manager
Meeting Date: February 11, 2026
The inaugural Festival Beverly Hills event was held on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Beverly Hills Farmers Market, and included performances and hands-on family friendly activities from more than 15 artists and organizations within the footprint of the market, and during market hours of operation. In 2024, at the direction of the Arts and Culture Commission Council Liaisons, and with the support of the City Council, the Festival was relocated to the City’s iconic Beverly Gardens Park in an ongoing manner, to center the summer festival in a highly popular park location for visitors, and near the visitor core of the city. Since then, the festival lineup has featured more than 20 cultures and 25+ performances across three stages, spanning two park blocks. In 2025, “The Great Elephant Migration,” a large-scale public art installation, along with robust support from the Conference & Visitors Bureau, and nearly a dozen cultural and community partnerships, helped propel attendance to 5,000 attendees, a nearly 67% increase from 2024.
Performances and partnerships last year included the following:
• Performance collaborations with cultural consulates from Bulgaria, Italy, Senegal, and Trinidad and Tobago
• Programmatic partnerships with the Farhang Foundation, JIMENA, the Wallis, and Debbie Allen Dance Academy
• A taiko drum performance in front of the Lily Pond, followed by an artist parade to the Festival main stages
• Interactive dance classes and family-friendly improv and hands-on experiences including origami and zoetrope crafts
• A food truck hub featuring global cuisines including Brazilian, Persian savory and sweet treats, Swedish, Italian, and Indonesian
DISCUSSION
The fourth annual Festival Beverly Hills is scheduled for Sunday, July 12, from 10:00am – 6:00pm at Beverly Gardens Park to best align with visitors coming to the region to enjoy the FIFA World Cup and to complement regional Route 66 Centenary celebrations. This year’s strategy, capitalizing on the success of the previous years, will seek to satisfy ongoing priorities articulated by both the Arts and Culture Council Liaisons and the Arts and Culture Commission:
• Continuing 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 performances and elements of spectacle throughout the festival
Mirroring the success of last year’s event, the marketing and promotional strategy for Festival Beverly Hills will focus on the following means, and promotional activities, 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
Meeting Date: February 11, 2026
• Weekly social media campaigns leading up to the July 12th event including artist spotlights and a curated music playlist
• Digital communications to Community Services Department 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
In advance of the 2025 festival, 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. Staff plan to continue utilizing and coordinating marketing efforts for Festival Beverly Hills, with outlets and entities that promote summer tourism activities in Beverly Hills, and particularly to align and take advantage of visitors coming to the Los Angeles region during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and visitors interested in Route 66 Centenary celebrations along Santa Monica Boulevard. The 2026 FIFA World Cup includes matches held across multiple sites in North America from Thursday June 11, 2026, through the final match on Sunday July 19, 2026, with matches held in Los Angeles between Friday June 12, 2026, and Friday July 10, 2026. Events that include World Cup inspired art, highlight artists and musicians who represent a culture or country playing in Los Angeles, and any program that celebrates the culture of soccer, will be included in a digital and web calendar on the official FIFA app, Discover Los Angeles webpage, and promoted to visitors and travelers in advance of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
FISCAL IMPACT
In 2025, Festival Beverly Hills was funded by $47,000 allocated in the 2025-26 Community Services Department operating budget, with an additional $18,000 provided by Policy and Management’s existing tourism and marketing budget – which is funded by Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenue – bringing the total event budget to $65,000.
For the 2026 Festival Beverly Hills, the Community Services Department currently has $47,000 allocated within the proposed 2026-27 operating budget to support this year’s Festival Beverly Hills. Community Services will be bringing forward a Budget Enhancement Form (BEF) through the annual budget process for review and consideration. Given the event’s success and the desire to host it at the same scale as 2025 – with some modest but necessary infrastructure adjustments including stage modifications, possible seating, and audience shade structures – an additional $25,000 in funding will be requested, for a total event budget of $72,000. Additionally, the minimal budgetary enhancements will also allow staff to incorporate decorative and interactive elements that align with the FIFA World Cup, and to complement regional Route 66 Centenary celebrations, which are taking place around Southern California during the time Festival Beverly Hills will be held.
To request the additional $25,000 in funding through the City’s annual budget development and approval process, staff will be submitting a BEF requesting the additional and ongoing $25,000 be added to the Department’s existing $47,000 budget, for a total program FY2026-27 budget of $72,000.
Meeting Date: February 11, 2026
Stephanie Harris,
Director of Community Services
Approved By