2022 IFEA / HAAS &
WILKERSON PINNACLE
AWARDS COMPETITION
Category 59: Best New Festival
ATTACHMENT B
2 | Overview Information
Introduction & Description of Main Event
Visit Stockton, with the support of the City of Stockton, executed the next great culture, food, and arts festival for our community.
Stockton Flavor Fest was hosted May 14 & 15, 2022 at the Weber Point Events Center in Downtown Stockton. The
two-day festival was a celebration of the food, music,
and cultures that make-up the diverse communities
and cultures in Stockton, California. With the help of
local nonprofits, organizations, artists, and creatives, Stockton Flavor Fest created a sense of pride and
excitement in our community.
The care and curation put into this first year event was unlike any other seen in the history of this community, and Stockton deserves that. Some of the highlights
from this year’s events were:
▪ Vendors showcasing the diversity and global food
offerings reflected in the Stockton area
▪ Two days of entertainment programming, including
local musical and cultural performances
▪ Creative activities, including interactive workshops
and live art
▪ Exclusive events including a Drag Brunch benefiting
the San Joaquin Pride Center, Silent Disco, and
culinary demonstrations
▪ A taste of California’s finest libations at the Craft Beer & Wine Tent
▪ A commitment to sustainability, including the use of
earth-friendly, compostable cutlery and serveware,
clean energy, and waste diversion stations
“It was definitely amazing, all the
performers were amazing, we were
getting our groove on. We loved
it. This is the first year they had it
here in Stockton, and I want them
to bring it back every year , we will
definitely support and spread the
word. If you missed it this year, you
don’t want to miss it next year!”
- Attendee
Cultural Performers
ATTACHMENT B
Overview Information | 3
Name, Description, Purpose &
Objective of New Festival
NAME OF THE EVENT
Stockton Flavor Fest
PURPOSE & OBJECTIVE
The purpose and objectives of Stockton Flavor Fest were to bring people back to Downtown Stockton, support
local businesses and non-profits, and celebrate the
diversity and cultures of our community.
Bring People Back Downtown
Stockton Flavor Fest was the direct result of years of
shut doors and low-business activity in Downtown due
to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our philosophy was that
our residents and visitors needed a “welcome back”
to Downtown moment, something where they felt safe,
inspired, and excited, to spark the re-energization in
our city-center.
We created an equitable, low-cost and family friendly
festival that reflected the values of the community
members it served. Our hope was by highlighting the
cultures that make up our city, participants would feel accepted, included, and celebrated.
Support Local Businesses and Non-Profits
Performers: Live music and performance was one of the
hardest hit sectors during the pandemic, so we made it
a priority to contract local and regional performers for our main stage, strolling, and cultural performances.
Vendors: We hand-selected all the vendors (81) at the
festival through an application process as opposed to
a “first come, first served” model. The only vendors
allowed at the festival were local, small businesses that had to fit into one of three categories: food vendors,
merchants, or artisans.
Community Resource Fair : Just outside our festival
footprint, we supported a free, family-friendly
community resource fair that allowed our local non-
profits an opportunity to showcase their resources for
our audience. Additionally, the fair was a fundraising
opportunity for the Child Abuse Prevention Council of
San Joaquin County and added an additional equity
component to the greater festival mission with free
games, prizes, and entertainment.
Volunteer Program: Proceeds of Stockton Flavor Fest
were shared with local charities that are represented by the event’s volunteers. Each charity received a donation based on a schedule of units, or hours, for the work
performed. This unique volunteer-led structure provided exposure to participating organizations, supporting their recovery and future successes.
Celebrate the Diversity and Cultures of Our Community
Stockton, CA was named the Most Diverse City in
America by U.S. News in 2020, something we are proud
of and wanted to celebrate through this festival. Our
hope was to reflect the cultures of our audience through our vendors, entertainment, and workshops.
Workshops: Our free art workshops included hands
on, interactive educational experiences, including “The History and How-To of Traditional Henna” and “African
Flag Dancing.” We also granted funds to local artists
to perform “live art” paintings and other mediums,
encouraging audience participation and engagement.
Performances : We hosted over a dozen cultural
and strolling performances at the festival, including
Brazilian Samba, Ballet Folklorico, Polynesian Hula
and Drummers, Traditional Hmong, Sikh Martial Arts,
Mariachi, and more. Additionally, for the first time in Stockton, we hosted a Drag Brunch benefitting the
San Joaquin County Pride Center, an organization that
provides resources, education, and acceptance for our
LGBTQQIA community.
Main Stage Entertainment : Our main stage
performances included music of varying genres, from
Folk to Brass Bands, Mariachi to Hip-Hop. The varying
acts allowed us to cater to our diverse audience and
provide entertainment that appealed to the entirety of
our community.
Vendors : We put exceptional care into selecting
the global food, artist, and merchant vendors at the
festival. We researched the prevalent cultural groups
in the community and invited vendors that reflected
those groups to apply. We also invited existing non-
profit organizations that support global foods, like the Stockton Community Kitchen and Greek Food Festival,
to showcase their offerings and earn support for their
future events and programs.
Kitchen Demonstrations: Our live kitchen demonstrations were educational opportunities to share the flavors and diverse cuisines found within our community, including
Puerto Rican, Soul Food, and Vegan cooking demos.
ATTACHMENT B
4 | Overview Information
Target Audience & Attendance
Our target audience for Stockton Flavor Fest was the
Stockton area and our surrounding drive markets (San
Joaquin County, Sacramento Area, & Bay Area (San
Jose & San Francisco)).
Tickets were low-cost in order to allow the most
participation from our community: $10 for adults, $5
for teens, free for kids 12 and under.
Attendees Demographic Information
Marketing Statistics
TOP REGIONS
SOCIAL MEDIA
WEBSITE STATISTICSADVERTISING
3.3k
likes
56.7k
visits
36,982
Ad Clicks
9,430,655
Impressions
(Print & Digital)
1.9k
follows
42k
users
122.8k
views
119.2k
pageviews
City % of Attendees
Stockton 50
Sacramento 20
San Francisco 15
Manteca 3
Modesto 3
Los Angeles 3
San Jose 2
Tracy 2
Lodi 1
Unspecified 1
Number of Participants
11,616
ATTACHMENT B
Overview Information | 5
Overall Revenue & Expense of the Festival
ITEM AMOUNT ($)
Income
City of Stockton ARPA Funding 469,980.48
General Vendor Revenue 25,831.18
Collide Arts Grants 26,200.00
Gate/Beverages/Drag - Credit 45,782.35
Gate/Beverages/Craft - Cash 55,371.00
Sponsorships Revenue 13,000.00
Total Income 636,165.01
Expenses
Dues & Subscriptions
6,546.03
Entertainment 238,535.85
Equipment Purchases 3,626.69
Equipment Rentals 96,205.83
Contractor Expenses 39,045.00
Festival Supplies/Beverage 29,811.44
Liability Insurance 5,338.00
Marketing/Advertising 66,417.00
State Parking Lot 2,920.00
Security/EMT 39,961.00
Vendor & Festival Signage 8,949.03
Volunteer Hospitality & Supplies 3,263.79
Waste Management 23,362.53
Rentals & Fees 25,636.76
Total Expenses 589,618.95
Net Operating Income 46,546.06
Other Expenses
Donations to Non-Profits/Pride Center 26,500.00
Total Other Miscellaneous Expenditure 26,000.00
Total Other Expenses 26,000.00
Net Other Income -26,000.00
Net Reserve Income 20,546.06
ATTACHMENT B
6 | Overview Information
Duration of the Festival
MAY 14 & 15, 2022
10 AM - 7 PM
Weber Point Events Center, Downtown Stockton
Festival Statistics
11 Cultural
Performers
11 Kitchen Demo
Workshops
17 Main Stage
Performers
32 Global Food
Cuisine Vendors
49 Artisans & Merchants
Vendors
14 Art Workshops & Live
Art Performances
9 Art Installations &
Photo Opportunities
12 Craft Beer & Wine Tent
Performers
Festival Grounds
ATTACHMENT B
Overview Information | 7
Description of Sponsor / Charity /
Volunteer / School Involvement with
Festival and Benefits to Each
EVENT ORGANIZER
Visit Stockton - Stockton is widely respected as a
diverse and welcoming community, providing unique
and authentic experiences and opportunities for all. Visit Stockton is dedicated to enhancing the region’s Quality of Life by collaboratively leading the promotion of our richly diverse community and advocating for initiatives that will enhance the city’s Quality of Place.
FUNDING PARTNER
City of Stockton – The City of Stockton received
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to aid in
Downtown Recovery efforts as a response to the COVID-
19 pandemic. The City approached Visit Stockton and
asked if we would support their downtown recovery
efforts and with their approval we produced the inaugural Stockton Flavor Fest.
EVENT CONTRACTOR
Goodstock Productions – A female founded, owned,
and managed Stockton-based events services company
who were instrumental in the creation and execution of
Stockton Flavor Fest.
COMMUNITY RESOURCE FAIR CONTRACTOR
Child Abuse Prevention Council of San Joaquin County
We contracted with CAPC to host our free community
resource fair at Stockton Flavor Fest, which also allowed them to host their annual “Ducky Derby” fundraiser as
part of the festivities.
SPONSORS
All sponsors of our festival received ample marketing
exposures, from social media to traditional print ads,
signage and naming rights at the festival, exclusive
hosted experiences, passes, and recognition.
Donaghy Sales – Main Stage: Donaghy Sales is a family
owned and operated beverage distribution company
based in Stockton. They were the signature sponsor
of our festival, which helped offset the cost of our Main Stage entertainment.
Pacific Home Care Services – Kids Activity Tent: PHCS
is local, Stockton-based agency that provides quality
home care to the elderly and disabled. Their contribution offset the cost of our Kids Activity Tent which hosted
games, puzzles, and other family-friendly entertainment.
The Kitchen @ StoneBrier – Kitchen Demo Tent: The
Kitchen @ StoneBrier is a fine-dining restaurant in
Stockton providing a unique experience on every plate.
They hosted our Kitchen Demo Tent which provided
educational and hands-on workshops and tastings from
local chefs and artisans.
AAA – Diversity Scholarships: AAA of Northern California provides emergency and roadside assistance services
to our community. They sponsored our Diversity
Scholarship program which was established to highlight
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)-
owned and LGBTQ-owned businesses/organizations
in Stockton. The scholarship was designed to provide
more opportunity for participation from individuals or
businesses who have been historically underrepresented
in order to provide a more inclusive experience for all festival-goers.
VOLUNTEERS
All proceeds from Stockton Flavor Fest benefited our
local non-profit organizations. Our volunteer-led model paid-out our partnering non-profits for hours worked at the festival. In total, we had 36 non-profits represented, made up of 531 volunteers and over 2,000 volunteer
hours.
2,000+
Hours Volunteered
531
Participating Volunteers
36 Non-Profits Represented
$26,500
Distributed to Non-Profits
VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
ATTACHMENT B
8 | Overview Information
What makes this festival unique & creative?
Stockton, Ca has had its fair share of negative press,
scandals, and disservice, but within it is a community so rich in diversity and creativity in need of an opportunity.
Stockton Flavor Fest was a labor of love to not only
highlight the cultures and cuisines present in our
community, but to give locals and residents something
to be proud of and excited for.
We took great care in curating a festival that was inclusive and reflective to the residents of our community. By
selecting vendors, musicians, artists, and performers
that reflect the faces and cultures in Stockton, we hoped to create an atmosphere of acceptance, inclusion, and
discovery.
The look and feel of Stockton Flavor Fest was unlike
any other in the area. All vendors were provided white
festival tents and signage to create a cohesive and
intentional vibe. Colorful shade structures were erected throughout our tree-lined park-like setting to create
ambiance and picture-worthy moments.
Local artists were awarded grants to create larger-than- life sculptures and to perform “live art” painting on
murals throughout the weekend. International themed
decorations adorned trees, stages, and tents to create a look that highlighted the cultures represented at the fest.
Additionally, we wanted to set the bar for future
events and took much effort to create a festival that
was low-waste and sustainable . All vendors were
required to use compostable or recyclable products
and serveware, aiding us in lessening our single-use
plastic waste footprint. We created waste-diversion
banks (landfill, recycling, and compost), and had a
volunteer crew responsible for overseeing the banks.
We also encouraged festivalgoers to bring their own
reusable water bottles and provided free water to all
attendees through a large refill station.
Festival Entrance
Branded Signage
Art Installations
ATTACHMENT B
Overview Information | 9
Overall Effectiveness & Success of the Event
The sentiment during and post-Stockton Flavor Fest
was overwhelmingly positive. For a first-year event,
we are extremely proud of the responses we have
received from city officials, vendors, attendees, and
partners. Some of the highlights we heard was the
feeling of safety our attendees felt, how clean the
festival grounds were, how respectful the crowd was,
how many options of family-friendly things to do were
provided, how beautiful the park looked, and how
many diverse offerings were available.
We saw so many shares of content from the festival on
social media that it nearly broke our Instagram account.
Hundreds and hundreds of people shared images and
videos from the festival and were often tagged with
phrases like “please bring this back next year” and
“thank you for doing this for Stockton.” We also gathered testimonials and endorsements from festival goers,
vendors, and partners, some of which are transcribed
and shared below:
We are proud to say we have already started planning
for Stockton Flavor Fest 2023 and can’t wait to continue highlighting the makers and creatives in our community
and sharing them on a grand scale.
“We are really enjoying it, the crowd is
amazing out here. We are actually not
expecting to do very well [as vendors], and
we are almost sold out of all of our plants.
We can’t be more excited, and we definitely
want to come back next year .”
- Vendor
“It was super amazing, it was honestly a
dream come true. So dope to be a part of
it, be a DJ, open up for the Ohio Players.
The crowd was amazing. Stockton man,
we’re truly blessed to have a day like this,
I hope everybody enjoyed themselves, and
can leave off with a positive note moving
into the summer. Stockton Flavor Fest, the
best thing that happened so far this year,
this is amazing. ”
- DJ Kenzo
Artisan Vendor
ATTACHMENT B
10 | Supporting Questions
What adaptations and
modifications did you make
to this new Festival due to
the Pademic?
What challenges/obstacles
did you foresee/encounter
in creating the new
Festival, and how did you
handle them?
Any first-time event is difficult to produce, but our
timeline provided us with an even greater challenge.
In August 2021, the City of Stockton invited us to a
meeting to discuss their ARPA funding and to brainstorm initiatives to get people back downtown after a long two years of no activity. In May of 2022, 9 months after an introductory brainstorming meeting, we hosted the
largest festival in Downtown Stockton since 2014.
Our office provides year-round programming, event
support, and promotions for the city of Stockton. We
strategized and prioritized Stockton Flavor Fest around our current programming and created a unique and
mission-sharing festival.
Of course, we could not have made this event happen
without the support of our community partners and
volunteer organizations. Visit Stockton has a reputation for being a great community partner, so when the time
came for us to ask for help, we were met with helping
hands and positive attitudes. We are fortunate to have
built a foundation of trust and to have proven ourselves as a result-producing organization.
This event was a direct response to the COVID 19
Pandemic, triggered by the disparity seen in our
Downtown community and small businesses. Being
this festival was partly funded by recovery funding, our objectives in the creation of the festival were to support small businesses and bring people back to Downtown.
Downtown Stockton has long been due for revitalization, and prior to Covid there was momentum in restoring
historic facades, opening new businesses, and creating
more housing. Covid shuttered a lot of that progress,
including closing many storefronts and stalling projects.
The streets became a ghost town and people have yet to
return in their pre-pandemic numbers. The hope is that
this festival will help in bringing positive momentum
and development back Downtown and create synergy
amongst Downtown businesses.
Volunteers
ATTACHMENT B
Supporting Materials | 11
Printed Materials
1 3
2 4
5 1. Note Pads
2. Printed Magazine and Newspaper Advertisements
(HERLife Magazine, Sunset Magazine, San Joaquin
Magazine, Sacramento Bee)
3. 11x17 Posters
4. 4x6 Postcards
5. Stickers
ATTACHMENT B
12 | Supporting Materials
Promotional, Marketing, & Media Materials
Street Banners Billboards
Digital Ads
Good Day Sacramento Media Interview
visitstockton.us/FlavorFest2022-GDS-Interview1
FlavorFest 2022 Recap Video
visitstockton.us/SFF-2022-ShortRecap
ATTACHMENT B
Supporting Materials | 13
Merchandise Materials
1. Aluminum Water Bottle
2. Laser Engraved Magnet
3. Flavor Fest Shirt Design 1
4. Flavor Fest Shirt Design 2
5. Flavor Fest Taco Hat
1 2
3 4
5 ATTACHMENT B
14 | Supporting Materials
Information Provided to Participants
Festival Map
ATTACHMENT B
Supporting Materials | 15
Information Provided to Participants
Flavor Fest Website
StocktonFlavorFest.com
MoPo Phone App Feature
ATTACHMENT B
16 | Supporting Materials
Supporting Materials Index
Information Provided to Participants
1. Festival Entrance - Page 8
2. Branded Signage - Page 8
3. Festival Map - Page 14
4. Flavor Fest Website - Page 15
5. MoPo Phone App Feature - Page 15
Supporting Photographs
1. Cultural Performance - Page 2
2. Festival Grounds - Page 6
3. Art Installation - Page 8
4. Artisan Vendor - Page 9
5. Volunteers - Page 10
Measurable Results: Tangible & Intangible
1. Testimonials - Pages 2, 9
2. Attendees Demographic Information - Page 4
3. Marketing Statistics - Page 4
4. Festival Statistics - Page 6
ATTACHMENT B