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Commissionors urge rethinking of "Culture in the Core" festival as city eyes ways to cut costs and grow attendance

Community Inclusion and Engagement Commission · March 26, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Staff told commissioners Culture in the Core draws about 1,000 attendees annually at roughly $90,000 cost; commissioners proposed rebranding, targeted outreach, vendor adjustments and community planning partnerships to increase attendance and reduce per-attendee cost.

Parks and recreation and city management staff briefed the commission March 26 on Culture in the Core, a free downtown cultural event funded through a tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ), and asked for advisory feedback as the city evaluates events for the coming budget cycle.

Mikaela, the assistant city manager, told commissioners the event is funded from a TIRZ placemaking fund and that the city is reviewing events as it prepares budget recommendations amid potential state revenue caps. "This is a unique one... it's wholly funded by the city, out of that increment reinvestment zone," she said, adding the event has been…

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