In compliance with State and local regulations the City cancelled all of the City’s special events and did not issue any special event permits to any non-city event organizers in 2020.
The City organizes and hosts a number of recurring events throughout the year (Attachment 1). At this point in time the City is not issuing permits for large scale events in compliance with State and County restrictions. At the time of the writing of this staff report, Monterey County remains in the purple tier of the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy and is receiving limited numbers of vaccines for those in tiers 1a and 1b.
In addition, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has announced that he expects most Americans will have access to a COVID-19 vaccine by mid- to late May or early June. That’s a slight delay from previous predictions of late March to early April. With this adjustment to the vaccine timeline it is anticipated that mass vaccination in the U.S. will not occur until late summer or early fall.
Non-City Events
While it is unclear as to when the restrictions for large-scale gatherings will be lifted, staff are working with event organizers whose events occur later in the spring and into the summer to prepare application materials for Council approval with a “TBD” date.
A number of event organizers have cancelled their events for 2021 including: Carmel Host Lions Breakfast With the Bunny, Run in the Name of Love, and Monterey County Vintners Annual Winemakers’ Celebration. Organizers for the Carmel Art Festival and Surfabout have not yet cancelled their events and staff are working with these event organizers as to whether they will reschedule or cancel.
Staff is also working with Car Week event organizers on their events occurring mid-summer and will continue to monitor the State and local restrictions regarding large-scale gatherings and the local vaccine rate, including exploring options for scaling events if possible. In addition staff are working with events organizers on the impacts of the parklets to event layouts.
City Events
Staff is recommending that the City’s Memorial Day ceremony and 4th of July celebration be cancelled again. Staff also recommends that the Community Activities Commission (CAC) continue its efforts to mark special events and holidays at the Farmers’ Market and its work with local community groups through the spring and summer.
The CAC “Pumpkins on Parade”, “Lights-by-the-Sea”, “Shop local. Shop Homecrafters” campaigns were well received by the community. In addition partnerships with Carmel Cares, who decorated for Memorial Day, 4th of July and Veteran’s Day, and the Post 512 Ladies Auxiliary for the placement of Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day bouquets were quite successful, and staff intends to reach out to both groups again this year.
The City’s remaining events for fall / winter 2021 include: Sandcastle Contest, Pumpkin Roll, Homecoming, City Birthday Parade and lunch, Veteran’s Day Ceremony, Homecrafters’ Marketplace and the annual Holiday Celebration. These events range in attendance from 75 at the Veteran’s Day Ceremony to over 1,000 at the Homecrafters’ Marketplace.
Staff will continue to assess how to organize and execute the City’s special events, including the potential necessity to scale or cancel events in compliance with State or local restrictions.