Drew Bailey, a tourism presenter for the Town of Little Elm, summarized two fall festivals held at Little Elm Park and reported attendance, hotel use, financials and operational takeaways.

Bailey said Diwali at the Beach on Sept. 28, 2025 drew about 6,868 attendees and that 1,125 Little Elm residents attended this year versus 819 in a prior year. "It was very well organized and planned," Bailey said, and the town required fencing and bag checks for the first time because of the crowd size. He told council the town posted event guidance on social media and in an email blast and coordinated with the fire department about fireworks and parking.

The presentation said the festival produced a net gain of about $163 for the town after staffing, cleanup and other costs; Bailey characterized the event as a communications-led effort rather than a large marketing campaign. He said volunteers and the parks crew performed well and there were "no major incidents to report." The town noted a small compliance issue with several vendors selling a little past the posted 9:30 p.m. closing time.

Bailey also reviewed the first-time Tacos & Beats festival on Oct. 4, which he estimated brought about 3,000 attendees. He reported a hotel block of 20 rooms, peak hotel occupancy in the area of roughly the low-to-mid 80s percent on event nights, about 50 vendors, multiple music acts and a fishing tournament on an adjacent day. Bailey said the town’s rev-share on tickets and alcohol left the town "on top with $7,131 for this event," and noted staff costs for larger-scale events can be substantial: "Now you might be like, wow, dollars 27,000 on staff. ... So, that was our staffing."

Staff and council discussed operational lessons from Tacos & Beats: a smaller marketing window and late confirmation of headline artists increased public skepticism about whether the event would occur; a planned sand‑wrestling attraction was canceled at the last minute; a secondary uncovered stage for local performers was shut down after heat concerns; and a delayed performance by a headliner led to crowd disappointment. Bailey said some of those issues were tied to the promoter’s short window for finalizing artist schedules and graphic content that conflicted with the town’s social‑media brand guidelines.

Place-of-origin data presented to council showed the largest share of attendees came from Dallas, followed by Frisco and Little Elm; most visitors made a day trip (home→event→home). Bailey recommended earlier date confirmations and more proactive marketing for future events to improve hotel stays and reduce public skepticism.

Councilmembers asked questions about year-over-year attendance and whether aspects such as wrestling took place; Bailey confirmed the wrestling was canceled and that organizers plan to return in 2026. Several councilmembers and staff praised the events’ public safety record and community atmosphere.

The tourism recap was delivered during the workshop portion of the Oct. 22, 2025 meeting and was for information; no formal council action was taken on the recaps.