After a drama-filled feud with its fired promoter, the Watsonville Strawberry Festival turns a profit.
The smoke has cleared from the duel of the strawberry festivals, and it appears that the city of Watsonville has come out on top against former festival promoter Leslie Peterson. City council voted unanimously last night to assume control of the Watsonville Strawberry Festival at Monterey Bay by approving preparations for the 2010 festival, already being called its “Sweet Sixteen.” The vote came after a presentation by city analyst Doug Mattos, who coordinated the last-minute city festival after Peterson was fired for breach of contract.
Mattos said the two-day festival generated a little over $3,500 profit, earning $81,025 and costing $77,499. He also reported that local parking garages were filled to 90 percent capacity, downtown restaurants enjoyed increased foot traffic and 10 of the 13 nonprofits raised almost $20,000. “There were a lot of community members who wanted to know, ‘Did we break even?,’ so I’m really glad,” said councilmember Kimberly Petersen.
The presentation, along with Deputy Chief of Police Manny Solano’s report that there were no problems as a direct result of the festival or its beer and wine garden, was like a sigh of relief after the dramatic feud that led to the city’s decision to hold its own festival. Event promoter Peterson, who was originally contracted to run the festival, was fired after he moved the location of the event to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds from Ramsay Park, supposedly in breach of his contract. The move also meant the city lost out on its $10,000 park rental fee. Peterson went on to host his own festival, called the Monterey Bay Berry Festival, at the same time and day as the downtown event, in direct competition with the city. Reports from the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce seem to indicate that Peterson’s Berry Festival lost money.
Had the city opted to work with another promoter in 2010 who agreed to hold the event in Ramsay Park, the $10,000 fee would have gone into the city’s general fund. As it stands, with the city assuming full responsibility, the $3,500 profit will likely be used as seed money for the development of the next festival, according to city manager Carlos Palacios. “[The $10,000] is not a huge amount of money,” he says. “The trade-off is that if we have it downtown and it’s a free event for the public.”
At the meeting, Palacios also said there is currently no indication that Peterson or any other promoter will seek to host a competing event next summer. “I’ve always believed local events are better than outside-run events,” said councilmember Greg Caput.
Wheels are already in motion for next year’s event, which will include the addition of cooking demonstrations, collaboration with the PV Chamber of Commerce (whose help was somewhat diverted to Peterson’s festival this year) and the potential addition of another street. “People wanted to dance, we need a little place for them to dance, too,” said Mayor Antonio Rivas.
