Looking to add a new annual event to the Pearland calendar, city staff on Monday sifted through a list of ideas and current and past events.
“Springfest is a fantastic event — it used to be Winterfest,” said Parks and Recreation director Carry Capers. “The cost of providing the snow at Winterfest was something we realized we could do a lot more with those budget dollars.”
The Parks and Recreation Department currently produces 19 events per year.
“We went through each of these and said how are each of these meeting our strategic priorities?” Capers said.
While Springfest is a good event, she said, “it doesn’t really have a true identity. It doesn’t have that feel that our community just needs to come to this event year after year.”
“You’ve got Strawberry Festival in Pasadena, Mosquito Festival in Clute — you hear about those, and you know exactly where it is,” Mayor Kevin Cole said.
Discussion included:
• Reviving the International Festival.
• Creating a Founder’s Day celebration.
• Expanding a current event such as the Hometown Christmas or Celebration of Freedom.
“Nothing is set in stone; we don’t have a formal event planned,” Capers said. “There are so many right ways to do events, so many ways to engage the community and bring tourists in.”
Rather than the city producing a new event, Councilman Alex Kamkar suggested partnering to grow an existing one, such as the Tejano Festival or Juneteenth.
“As opposed to us writing a budget item where we go out there and try to make something that isn’t existing now,” he said. “Tejano might not be for everybody — I like it. Maybe look at our community members who are already doing something and see how we can be an accelerant.”
The event’s discussion was part of an ongoing development of the city’s strategic priorities. Those discussions will continue at a council retreat in February 2024.
