Kingsburg BID members discuss Fika Friday, Swedish Festival logistics and event planning; no votes due to lack of quorum

The Kingsburg Downtown Business Improvement District Advisory Board met May 6 and discussed recent and upcoming downtown events — including a privately hosted Fika Friday, preparations for the Swedish Festival and lessons from a recent “Bridgerton and Blossom” ladies-night event — but did not take any votes because the board lacked a quorum.

The board’s discussion centered on whether Fika Friday should remain a BID networking event for businesses or be reconceived as a broader community event. "I hosted, along with the Lions Club Fika Friday last Friday," said Steve Svarjan, a business owner in the BID district. "On the flyer and on the advertisement, I did not put the BID. I did not put the city of Kingsburg. I did not put the Chamber of Commerce. I didn't put the Lions Club, and I didn't put the RPS logo because I wanted it just to promote Kingsburg and the Swedish festival." Svarjan said he omitted organizational logos intentionally to focus on promoting the Swedish Festival and wider downtown attendance.

Board members discussed the original purpose of Fika Friday as a networking and member-education opportunity for BID businesses and weighed whether to expand it as a regular community event. One board member summarized the original intent as "to educate the folks, so they know why they're paying for the BID, and what we can do for them," and said turning it into a recurring community-facing event would require board discussion and a formal change in approach.

Members reviewed details for the upcoming Swedish Festival: organizers reported roughly 35–37 booths listed on event materials, a planned public schedule from about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., setup from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., and an expected street re-opening by about 4 p.m. Organizers said they chose not to serve food because the festival falls on Mother’s Day weekend and they did not want to pull business away from downtown restaurants. A small fundraiser item — a $20 keepsake with sponsor names on the back — was printed in a 100-unit run to help replenish event expenses and seed next year’s budget.

Board members and business attendees also reviewed a recent "Bridgerton and Blossom" or spring soiree event that drew about 100 attendees to one shop; participants said the event drove in-store traffic but suffered from last-minute logistics. One board member proposed forming a standing subcommittee to run future events, saying, "I would like an event team. I would like a subcommittee of 3 people ... I would like a timeline with deadlines of when things are done." The suggestion was framed as a discussion item to return to the board at a future meeting; no motion or vote was taken.

Several operational items were raised for future follow-up: better and earlier advertising across Facebook (in addition to Instagram), clearer signage about a trolley that the board said it had previously approved and paid for, inclusion of participating businesses on printed flyers, and more distributed support for raffle materials (some businesses reported not seeing emailed materials the day of the event). A board member noted that some nonprofit organizations are exempt from business licenses but still pay BID fees, a procedural point raised during discussion of sponsorship and fee expectations.

Because three of seven board seats were absent, the board’s presiding member opened the meeting for public comment and emphasized no votes or approvals would occur. Members agreed to revisit event-organization topics at the board’s next regular meeting, scheduled for June 3.