Highland Park committee OKs 2026 event slate but defers sponsorship requests and vendor-fee waivers

The Committee of the Whole on Thursday reviewed the city's proposed 2026 event slate, endorsed continuing the downtown concert and festival program and a proposed $451,000 operating budget for city-produced events, but postponed decisions on sponsorship requests and vendor-fee waivers from private event organizers until staff returns with more detail.

Assistant Manager Erin Jason and Communications Manager Amanda Bennett presented staff's proposal to retain the city's 2025 "bookend" model for Central Avenue events in 2026: the Taste of Highland Park in June, a series of Port Clinton concerts, the vintage car show and the Susan's Stews & Brews event in fall, plus holiday lighting and neighborhood programming. "We feel confident with the budget at $451,000 for next year," Jason told the committee, summarizing staff estimates of infrastructure, ADA compliance and security costs.

The committee heard 2024 attendance and economic-intelligence figures staff supplied from the Placer.ai platform: more than 25,000 visitors attended city events in 2024 and staff said those visits included both local residents and regional visitors that supported downtown businesses. Council members asked staff to make the presentation clearer about how weather and single-day versus multi-day events affect attendance figures.

Council members endorsed several policy priorities for next year's events: expand family- and pet-friendly programming, include more diverse artists and vendors, improve vendor outreach and signage, and evaluate evening programming to maximize the benefit of event setup and infrastructure costs. Multiple members urged better advertising and stronger coordination with downtown businesses so local restaurants and retailers can capture event foot traffic.

On sponsorships, staff described a new request from festival organizers (identified in staff materials as Amber/Andrew Productions) seeking $20,000 in financial support for two events and asking the city to provide infrastructure such as water barricades and marketing. Staff recommended in-kind assistance rather than a direct cash payment, noting that waiving vendor permit fees for the Cortland Art Festival (205 vendors, about $14,500 in vendor fees this year) and for Arts on Sheridan (about $6,000) would provide most of the organizers' requested value without an outlay of city cash. "Our recommendation is that it not be a financial out-of-pocket expense for us," Jason said.

Dieter, a representative identified as head of operations for the organizer, told the committee that Highland Park remains unusual in charging an individual artist/vendor permit fee. "This is also the other the only community in which the artist do have an individual permit fee," he said, and he outlined rising event costs including additional on-site security required after the 2022 shooting.

Several council members expressed hesitation about providing direct financial sponsorship to a for-profit promoter. Council member John noted the vendor fee is a modest, longstanding pass-through fee and emphasized the costs municipal staff absorb to stage large downtown events. Others called for waiving the fee for smaller, locally owned vendors and for adding targeted programming to increase diversity, such as a daytime international food and music feature at the Taste footprint.

Outcome: the committee agreed to proceed with the proposed 2026 event slate and the $451,000 planning budget but deferred final decisions on in-kind sponsorship and any vendor-fee waiver requests to allow staff to return with a more detailed cost/benefit analysis, comparisons to neighboring municipalities and recommendations on whether fee relief should apply to for-profit organizers, nonprofit groups, or particular vendor classes.

Ending: staff will refine the financial options, quantify in-kind support versus cash, and bring back a narrower sponsorship proposal and vendor-fee policy for committee consideration at a future meeting.