City Council to consider one time funding for Fiesta Days
A year after only the second cancellation in the event’s 64-year history, Fiesta Days is proposed to return in a modified format — with preliminary events in May and the main event scheduled for Labor Day Weekend.
To ensure the event has funding after a oneyear hiatus, Vacaville staff are calling upon the City Council to provide $10,000 to support the festival at the council’s Tuesday meeting.
Fiesta Days, first observed in 1957, is a multiday celebration of Vacaville’s Western and Hispanic heritage, featuring a carnival, parade, pageant and special events such as a jalapeño and onion-eating contest, car show and a race among toddlers known as the Diaper Derby.
The event is held like clockwork every year with only two cancellations in its history. The
first was in 1959 due to weather, and the second was last year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, organizers have made clear they do not want to see this beloved Vacaville tradition go dormant two years in a row, so the proposal is to have the main event Labor Day Weekend with carnival rides and live music with reduced capacity limits while also adhering to social distancing guidelines, City Manager Aaron Busch wrote in a staff report.
A few events are also proposed for Fiesta Days’ normal time of Memorial Day Weekend, such as the BBQ Kickoff — this time in a drive-thru pickup format, Diaper Derby and a day to purchase carnival food.
However, Busch wrote that last year’s cancellation led to a decrease in sponsorships and reduced fundraising opportunities. Likewise, he wrote that the event did not qualify for stimulus funding due to its length and location and that Fiesta is mostly volunteerbased with only one parttime employee working 100
days out of the year.
As a result, Fiesta Days organizers are requesting a one-time contribution of no more than $10,000 from the city to support this year’s event. In 2019, the city provided one-time expenses to support facility rentals, overrate pay for patrol officers and labor for installing signs, flags, barriers and more.
“The City has historically supported Fiesta Days in a variety of ways,” Busch wrote. “The requested contribution would be in addition to any in-kind support.”
Fiesta Days is not the only event seeking funding on this Tuesday’s busy agenda. The Parks and Recreation Department will present options for both the CreekWalk Concert Series and 4th of July fireworks display. For the CreekWalk concerts, the options include a drivein style concert series at Lagoon Valley Park with a limit of up to 344 cars per show, holding the traditional concert series at Andrews Park with modifications or canceling the series altogether.
Options being presented for the 4th of July show include holding the fireworks display and concert at its
traditional Andrews Park location, canceling the concert and moving the fireworks show to Al Patch Park or cancel both the concert and fireworks show for this year.
In other business, the council will consider adopting the Place of Peace 2021 proclamation, direct staff to provide a final parquet proposal for the Outdoor Dining Program and consider a resolution denying a public convenience or necessity request for alcoholic beverage sales at the proposed Nut Tree Food Mart.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Zoom link is Cov.zoom.us/s/9956 9804654?pwd=TENqcXhW cnlmYzEwbmt0MkdkTTdWZz09, and the password is 639925. Participants may also join by phone by dialing 267-831-0333 or 301-7158592 or toll-free at 877-8535257 or 888-475-4499. Participants may dial *67 before the number if they wish to keep their number from being displayed on the screen.
The meeting may also be viewed on Channel 26 or online at Youtube.com/user/ Cityof Vacaville/videos.