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Council hears review of 2024 event season as staff seeks to grow Taste Addison while shrinking subsidy
Summary
Director of Special Events Abby Morales reviewed 2024 results for Taste Addison, Kaboom Town and Oktoberfest, describing attendance, programming and revenue measures; council members pressed for a sharper restaurant focus, more restaurant participation, and steps to reduce the event subsidy.
Taste Addison and other town-produced festivals played a central role in Addison’s branding and visitor strategy, Director of Special Events and Theater Abby Morales told the Town Council on Feb. 25, laying out metrics from 2024 and options to reduce the town subsidy for the events.
Morales told the council the events “drive visitors to Addison” and are funded in part by the hotel occupancy tax; she described 2024 as a year of transformation for Taste Addison with changes to site footprint, programming and ticketed experiences. She said the festival’s identity was repositioned as “Eats, Beats, and Artistic Treats” and highlighted year-over-year increases: a 13% rise in restaurant participation, a 50% increase in live entertainment spaces and a 37% increase in artisan/vendor participants. Morales also said presale ticket sales for the 2024 event were about 12% ahead of 2023, with roughly 18,000 presale tickets sold.
The nut graf: Councilmembers pressed Morales and staff to sharpen Taste Addison’s identity around restaurants — the festival’s…
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