Council approves Darien Fest agreement but park deal faces insurance and process questions

The Darien City Council voted June 3 to approve an event‑management agreement with the Darien Chamber of Commerce for the 2024 Darien Fest, but discussion about a related intergovernmental agreement with the Darien Park District exposed unresolved questions about insurance limits and procedural delays.

Council members said the city has pursued moving Darien Fest and the summer concert series back into park spaces after lengthy talks with the park district. The intergovernmental agreement discussed would permit use of Westwood Park for Darien Fest and related events. One council member noted the negotiation had dragged on for months and that both bodies had incurred additional legal fees during the process.

A key sticking point discussed at length was an insurance requirement in the draft agreement that would have required vendor participants to carry a $3 million liability policy, an amount the council said would be unattainable for many local nonprofit and small vendors. “If that same vendor…without $3 million of insurance…they would have been required to get a $3 million certificate,” a council member said, using the example of the park district’s craft fair to illustrate the mismatch.

Staff said the Darien Fest/event management agreement was approved by motion and roll‑call vote. The city attorney may review final documents related to the intergovernmental agreement and council members said a separate agenda item could appear at a future meeting to finalize details for the concert series and Fall Fest if the park district and city cannot reach a single all‑in‑one agreement.

One council member floated a long‑term structural fix: deed Westwood Park to the city to simplify event governance and reduce recurring interagency frictions. No deed transfer was enacted; the idea was offered as a policy suggestion rather than an immediate action.