Live on the Avenue 2024 drew thousands; staff and council review funding, operations for 2025

Live on the Avenue returned in 2024 as a multiweek summer series that combined music, movies and family programming and drew large crowds, town staff told the Town Council during a review of the season.

The program ran on Fridays and Saturdays in July, August and September with 26 street closures, 57 bands and entertainers, six youth bands and three movie nights, staff said. "The total cost is about $12 per person that attended," Maddie O'Grady, recreation staff, told the council as she presented the budget and attendance figures.

Town staff highlighted three sources of revenue for the series: town contributions for operations and staffing, private sponsorships and a friends-and-family donations program. Staff reported roughly $240,000 in total program costs that include staffing, portables, street attendants, janitorial, signage and traffic control. The town contribution including staffing and services was listed at about $166,000; fundraising this year totaled about $75,000; and the friends-and-family donations rose to roughly $11,500.

Why it matters: Live on the Avenue is both a community amenity and a downtown economic driver. The council framed the program as a public service that also supports businesses and brings people into downtown San Anselmo, but members said they want clearer measures of economic impact and steady funding to sustain and grow the series.

What staff presented

- Attendance and dwell: Staff used aggregated mobile data (third-party Placer.ai) and the season survey to estimate roughly 30,000 visits over the entire 26-night run and nearly 19,000 unique visitors, with an average dwell time of about 75 minutes and an average of about 1,100 visits per night. - Survey results: About 300 residents completed the season survey; 86% rated the series excellent or very good and 93% said they would return next year. Respondents cited live music, the community atmosphere and kids activities as top draws; common dislikes included amplified music volume on some nights and the need for more food options. - Budget and fundraising: Staff included full staffing costs to show the program’s true budget. Total costs were around $240,000; town-paid services and staffing accounted for about $166,000 of that total. The town raised about $75,000 in sponsorships and in-kind support; staff said they aim to build a small fund balance each year to seed the next season’s marketing and materials. - Programming changes: Staff said they experimented with site layout changes, added bike parking and disability-accessible chairs at staging areas, expanded movie nights from two to three and piloted new youth programming.

Council and business feedback

Council members praised the event’s popularity and suggested ways to expand sponsorship and fundraising, and to better quantify the series’ economic effect on downtown retail and restaurants. Some council members recommended exploring a professional fundraiser or consultant to increase sponsorship revenue so the program can afford higher-paying headline acts while keeping the neighborhood feel.

Retailers and residents spoke in support of the series during the public comment period. Local business owner Frank Gomez, who said he keeps his store open during the series, told the council the event is a net positive for merchants but urged the town to work with businesses on street closure timing so store hours and crowd patterns align.

Staff recommendations and next steps

Staff said they will return with a formal proposal and recommendation for the 2025 season on Jan. 28, including a proposed budget and suggested program changes. Staff also recommended continuing the current permitting rules that restrict commercial vendor booths to local businesses and preserving the community-focused nature of the series.

Council members asked staff to explore starting the series earlier in the summer, continuing the focus on family and music programming, and identifying stable funding sources. Several council members urged staff to provide more evidence on the program’s economic impact, including possible measures staff could use to estimate on-site spending by visitors.

What’s next: Staff will return with a 2025 proposal, including recommended dates, staffing proposals and fundraising targets. The council requested additional analysis of nonstaff (hard) costs and options for extending the season or its frequency only if funding and staffing capacity allow.