Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Events Festival topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Riverbank parks director reports net gain from 2025 Cheese and Wine Festival, outlines 2026 plans
Summary
Parks Director Michael Patton told the City Council the 2025 Cheese and Wine Festival earned $54,627 in revenue and netted $8,446.23 after expenses; staff flagged manageable security and logistics issues and proposed maintaining the festival layout for 2026 with added evening programming and an early‑bird vendor fee.
Michael Patton, Riverbank’s director of parks and recreation, presented a staff review of the 2025 Cheese and Wine Festival and outlined plans for the 2026 event.
Patton said the city recorded $54,627 in revenue for the festival and spent less than anticipated, producing a net positive of $8,446.23. “We exceeded that with 54,627,” Patton said, and noted that the wine‑tasting sessions sold out: “Our wine tasting experience that was held in house, we sold out tickets night prior to multiple sessions.” He also told council staff ran short of tasting glasses during the event and pulled inventory from retail sales to cover demand.
The presentation highlighted what staff described as strong layout and flow, good vendor participation and improved organizational logistics in the second year the city ran the event in‑house. Patton identified security and staging as the primary negative: a lack of a single attendant at one far end of the festival left a vehicle blocking a fire lane and prompted staff to recommend an additional attendant in that area in future years.
On programming, Patton recommended keeping the layout and vendor configuration largely unchanged for 2026, retaining the wine‑tasting format that produced strong ticket sales, and adding an evening activity to sustain attendance after the day’s formal programming ends. He described a new concept that would pair a live band with a line‑dancing instructor and provide sampled beer and wine for ticket holders to avoid confusion from prior after‑party arrangements.
Patton also said staff moved the vendor application timeline in response to a nearby city hosting a two‑day event the same weekend and noted Council’s recent fee changes. He said the city already has 90 vendors confirmed out of 120 applications received (with roughly 30 applications denied as duplicates) and expressed confidence going into 2026.
Council members praised staff work and the layout, asked for more youth programming near family areas, and sought clarification on revenue line items, including reported retail sales described as wine‑glass sales. A council member raised a question about how increased law‑enforcement presence during the festival is billed; staff replied that law‑enforcement overtime is charged through the city’s overtime budget and is not included in the event’s direct revenue/expenditure accounting.
The item was a presentation and no formal council action was required. Staff said planning for the city’s 50th anniversary festival in 2027 has already begun.
