Commission approves recurring permit for Shakespeare performances in Cedar Grove Meadow with conditions

The Park and Playground Commission approved a permit to stage a multi-day Shakespeare performance in Cedar Grove Meadow and authorized the park manager to approve the event in future years, provided any significant change in management or scope returns to the commission.

The commission’s action covers the event scheduled May 24–June 15, 2025, and was made after staff explained that the 12-hour code requires multi-day events of this length to come before the commission but that the event’s long history justified allowing annual approvals at the staff level. Commissioners expressed concern about future changes in event operator or scale; the motion that passed added a condition requiring the event to return to the commission if management or the event’s scope changes.

Commissioners voting yes were Commissioner Nava, Commissioner Nichols, Commissioner Paiva, Commissioner Shearer, Vice Chair Blaschley and Chair Willis. The motion passed 6-0.

Staff said the permit would remove the need for the event to come before the commission each year unless the operator or the scale of the event changed, and that the park manager (currently a city staff member) would handle future approvals under the condition adopted by the commission. The staff presentation noted the event has operated in the park for many years with no recent incidents and that the change is intended to reduce repetitive administrative review while preserving oversight for substantive changes.

The commission did not set a sunset date for the staff-level approval; rather, it tied future council oversight to material changes in operator or event scope.