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Study: West Hollywood’s major events drew about 379,000 attendees and nearly $94 million in direct spending in 2025
Summary
A city‑commissioned analysis found the four signature 2025 events generated roughly 379,000 attendees and an estimated $93.7 million in direct spending across Los Angeles County; the city’s net fiscal cost was about $7.1 million after event expenses and revenues were compared.
City staff and consultants presented an economic impact analysis of four signature 2025 events — WeHo Pride, Halloween Carnaval, AIDS Walk and the Mishka Festival — and outlined strategies to boost revenue and operational efficiency.
Paolo Kesperidet, business development manager, said the consultant team estimated about 379,000 combined attendees who generated approximately $93,700,000 in direct spending across Los Angeles County. The consultant reported the events supported jobs in the regional economy (the presentation cited roughly 993 total jobs supported across the county, including 727 directly within West Hollywood and 266 indirect/induced jobs) and generated about $902,000 in general‑fund revenue (TOT and sales tax). City cost estimates for producing the events totaled roughly $8,000,000, yielding a net fiscal cost of approximately $7,100,000 when comparing city costs to direct event revenue.
Consultants and staff emphasized non‑fiscal benefits: brand recognition, media impressions and long‑term visitor development. The consultants estimated substantial earned media value and recommended that the city adopt a unified event typology, explore a centralized sponsorship strategy and consider trademark/branding approaches to monetize event names and logos.
Council members probed methodology and comparisons to an earlier (2014) study. Staff and the consultant said the 2025 analysis used larger intercept surveys and larger samples than 2014, which helps explain higher per‑attendee spending estimates; they also noted day‑of‑week differences (a Friday event vs. a prior weekday) and changes in transportation costs (rideshare prices) that affect spending data.
Council discussion focused on ways to help small businesses during closures, delivery routing during street closures, opportunities to extend event hours to increase revenue, and prioritizing sponsorships to reduce net city costs. The council received and filed the report; staff and consultants will consider the council’s operational suggestions as they finalize recommendations.
