Council approves $142,495.51 budget amendment for 2024 Tejas Fest; staff recommends two-day free festival for 2025

The Victoria City Council on March 4 voted to amend the city’s FY2024-25 budget to cover a $142,495.51 shortfall from the October 2024 Tejas Fest, a bicentennial-era downtown festival that city staff said drew an estimated 10,000–15,000 attendees.

City events director Joel Novakson told the council the inaugural Tejas Fest delivered strong local participation and measurable tourism impacts, but costs—particularly entertainer fees and vendor services—exceeded the original event budget. “If you attended Tejas Fest, our inaugural event this past October, you will know that we had a phenomenal event,” Novakson said during a presentation that summarized attendance, vendor sales and advertising performance.

Novakson said the event team estimated a modest outside-economic impact and measurable hotel benefit: data from a targeted digital ad campaign identified 218 visitors who traveled to Victoria after seeing ads, producing an estimated 50 hotel room nights and an estimated $36,000 in direct economic impact from that campaign. Using a simple model of $50 per-person local spending and assuming 5% of attendees came from outside Victoria, staff estimated roughly $180,000 in outside economic impact and about $67,000 in lodging spend tied to the event.

Nut graf: Why this matters

Tejas Fest uses hotel-occupancy-tax (HOT) funds intended to attract visitors; the council’s decision to cover the 2024 deficit preserves the city’s ability to hold the festival in 2025 while staff work to reduce costs and secure sponsors. Staff presented three options for 2025—(1) a two-day, free festival similar to 2024 but with selected cost reductions; (2) a one-day festival; and (3) a two-day festival with a fenced, ticketed concert area—and recommended option 1 with a proposed $150,000 HOT contribution to stabilize the event in a non-bicentennial year.

Details from staff presentation

Novakson said Tejas Fest’s 2024 program included an all-Tejano Friday lineup, Texas country on Saturday, two stages, 17 food vendors and 53 merchandise vendors. He reported food vendors’ average gross sales reported by respondents at about $6,000 and said the city spent approximately $128,000 with local firms as contract or service providers. Novakson also said the event produced a deficit that required the budget amendment: "A lot of that's due to because we really wanted to put on a show this year," he said, noting entertainer fees and expanded daytime attractions increased costs.

Staff’s three proposals for 2025 were summarized as follows: - Proposal 1 (staff recommendation): Keep a two-day, free festival with targeted reductions (reduce food vendors from 17 to about 15, move VIP area into plaza restrooms, discontinue the off-site shuttle). Estimated city HOT contribution: $150,000. - Proposal 2: Make Tejas Fest a single-day event (Saturday) to reduce costs and volunteer needs. Estimated HOT contribution: $100,000; staff noted possible reduction in hotel room nights and beverage/vendor revenues. - Proposal 3: Two-day event with a fenced, ticketed concert area for evening headline shows. This would add ticket revenue but require fencing and higher security and staffing; staff characterized it as the riskiest option and projected a $100,000 HOT contribution assuming robust ticket sales.

Council reaction and next steps

Several council members expressed support for preserving a two-day, community-oriented festival in 2025, while noting the city’s competing HOT priorities. One council member asked Novakson whether the proposed entertainment budget was sufficient; Novakson said he had priced performers and believed a strong lineup could be secured within the recommended budget.

Council members also noted the city is considering HOT commitments for a proposed community center project; that potential allocation could constrain future HOT contributions to festivals, staff and council members said. Council feedback favored moving forward with planning under staff’s recommended option while continuing efforts to secure sponsorships and pare nonessential expenses.

The council approved the budget amendment on a voice vote; no roll-call breakdown was recorded in the minutes. Novakson said staff would return with a separate presentation outlining the 2025 event plan and noted time-sensitive artist bookings would require early outreach to secure mid-level acts.

Ending

With the budget amendment approved, staff said planning and sponsor outreach for Tejas Fest 2025 will proceed under the recommended two-day format. Council members asked staff to monitor HOT revenue commitments as the community center discussion progresses and to report back with a detailed 2025 budget and sponsorship plan.