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Leavenworth reviews Camp Leavenworth after‑action report, approves planning for 2026
Summary
City staff told commissioners Camp Leavenworth drew an estimated 10,000 attendees in 2025 but finished with a $337,862 net event expense largely driven by a roughly $80,000 headliner fee; commissioners asked staff to start early planning for 2026 and return an event‑organizer contract for approval.
Leavenworth City staff told commissioners on the study‑session floor that the 2025 Camp Leavenworth festival drew an estimated 10,000 attendees but produced a net event expense of $337,862, with the headline act accounting for roughly $80,000 of the overage.
The presentation, introduced by staff, summarized six years of the festival and said the 2025 program added new elements — including a national headliner (the Gin Blossoms), a traveling train, a skateboarding exhibition and golf‑cart shuttles into downtown — to broaden appeal and encourage overnight stays. "We had 10,000 estimated attendees," staff said, adding that gate counts and clickers informed the total while noting some attendees (vendors or alternate entries) may not be captured.
The Convention & Visitors Bureau director, Christy Lee, presented Placer AI data showing about 8,200 total visits and roughly 7,200 unique visitors over the festival weekend; Lee said the data come from cell‑phone and transaction algorithms with an advertised +/- ~10% variance. She reported much of the activity remained local but that name acts drew some out‑of‑area visitors and visible downtown spillover to restaurants and retail.
Commissioners and staff discussed several operational challenges highlighted in the after‑action review: repeated last‑minute food‑truck cancellations in 2024 and 2025 that produced long food lines; public comments and survey feedback (59 respondents) indicating dissatisfaction with festival fencing that some said made the event feel separated from downtown; and safety tradeoffs tied to a gated footprint that helps control alcohol and protect headline performers.
Parks & Recreation Deputy Director Brian Bailey outlined staffing and logistics, saying parks staff coordinate setup two months ahead, mobilize with public works, and provide on‑site support throughout the event. Staff reported only minor police/fire incidents and on‑site EMS responses over the weekend.
On funding, staff said sponsorship revenue for 2025 totaled $19,300 — the largest to date but still short of expectations — and that the sponsorship gap and increased equipment and production costs contributed to the budget shortfall. Staff noted the event is funded from the transient guest tax fund and that a reserve exists to cover one year's gap; staff gave an estimated transient guest tax reserve of $627,100 and advised caution to avoid unsustainable draws on the fund.
Looking ahead, staff recommended early planning for 2026 (booking headliners and carnival rides soon) and said they would return an event‑organizer contract to the commission for approval in January. Commissioners voiced general support for proceeding with a 2026 Camp Leavenworth and for pursuing a headliner and additional attractions, while asking staff to continue outreach with downtown businesses and to explore ways to increase sponsorship and local vendor participation.
The commission expressed a desire to preserve free family programming where possible while balancing fiscal responsibility, and directed staff to bring options and contract language back for further feedback sessions and formal action by the commission.
