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Committee recommends $250,000 sponsorship for Hilton Head Island Jam; town costs higher after infrastructure and security
Summary
The committee voted to recommend the town council approve a $250,000 sponsorship for the Hilton Head Island Jam songwriter festival; presenters and committee members clarified the town’s total outlay for the event this year is expected to be about $288,850 once infrastructure and security costs are included, and staff will provide a memo with attendance and cost breakdown.
Angie Stone presented a sponsorship agreement request for the Hilton Head Island Jam songwriter festival and said the town received the request from David Preston. Stone and Preston described the festival’s evolution and its prior sponsorship amounts ($193,550 in 2023 and $250,000 in 2024–25) and said the 2026 request is for $250,000.
David Preston (festival organizer) described Celebration Park as an "awesome" venue and said the songwriter lineup will include 25–30 songwriters with extensive local involvement. He and Stone said the Island Rec partner handles concessions (beer, wine, food truck rents) and some infrastructure contracting while the town covers permitting, security and other park needs.
Committee members pressed staff for a full accounting of town costs beyond the $250,000 sponsorship. Stone and staff explained that the town budgets an additional roughly $38,850 for infrastructure and security costs in cooperation with Island Rec, making the town’s apparent total cost for the festival roughly $288,850 when combined with the sponsorship. The presenters agreed to provide a memo summarizing attendance figures and the cost breakdown for the council meeting.
Public commenters and committee members praised the community value of the festival, asked for demographic breakdowns of attendees to support younger‑adult programming, and emphasized the need for after‑action reporting to evaluate shuttle programs and parking impacts. The committee recommended the sponsorship agreement to full town council.
