Riverbank staff outline plans and budget for 2024 Cheese & Wine Festival
May 14, 2024 | Riverbank, Los Angeles County, California
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Parks and Recreation Director Michael Patton presented staff’s plan for the 2024 Cheese & Wine Festival at the May 14 council meeting, describing a downtown layout, marketing and preliminary budget projections.
Patton said the event is planned to run from 10 a.m. to about 6 p.m. with a transition at 7 p.m. to an exclusive 21-and-older "sip and stroll" area. The proposed footprint would run along downtown from Second Street east to Seventh Street, with wine and alcohol-focused activities concentrated on the western end and more family-oriented, carnival-style activities toward the east.
"As of right now we have about 60 vendors already filled up or paid and already submitted their applications," Patton said. Staff discussed vendor spacing (10x10 to 10x30 booths), a goal to attract vendors across multiple blocks (potentially 240+ vendor spaces if fully filled) and new, lower vendor fees compared with prior years (patron feedback called the older fee structure prohibitive).
On budget, Patton presented conservative projections of $66,373 in revenue and roughly $63,600 in expenses; staff said some program revenue lines remained to be finalized. Public-safety planning includes coordination with the sheriff’s department and the fire department and a contracted private security firm (Ontell Security).
Council asked about Spanish-language outreach and children’s activities; Patton said staff will produce Spanish flyers and is designing a kids’ corner near the teen center with age-appropriate educational activities. Marketing will include radio ads and social media run in the weeks before the event.
Staff emphasized the event will try to aid downtown businesses by avoiding placing vendor booths directly in front of storefronts and by incorporating downtown merchants into the festival programming. Patton said a ribbon-cutting or final schedule will be confirmed as contracts and entertainers are finalized.
Patton said the event is planned to run from 10 a.m. to about 6 p.m. with a transition at 7 p.m. to an exclusive 21-and-older "sip and stroll" area. The proposed footprint would run along downtown from Second Street east to Seventh Street, with wine and alcohol-focused activities concentrated on the western end and more family-oriented, carnival-style activities toward the east.
"As of right now we have about 60 vendors already filled up or paid and already submitted their applications," Patton said. Staff discussed vendor spacing (10x10 to 10x30 booths), a goal to attract vendors across multiple blocks (potentially 240+ vendor spaces if fully filled) and new, lower vendor fees compared with prior years (patron feedback called the older fee structure prohibitive).
On budget, Patton presented conservative projections of $66,373 in revenue and roughly $63,600 in expenses; staff said some program revenue lines remained to be finalized. Public-safety planning includes coordination with the sheriff’s department and the fire department and a contracted private security firm (Ontell Security).
Council asked about Spanish-language outreach and children’s activities; Patton said staff will produce Spanish flyers and is designing a kids’ corner near the teen center with age-appropriate educational activities. Marketing will include radio ads and social media run in the weeks before the event.
Staff emphasized the event will try to aid downtown businesses by avoiding placing vendor booths directly in front of storefronts and by incorporating downtown merchants into the festival programming. Patton said a ribbon-cutting or final schedule will be confirmed as contracts and entertainers are finalized.
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