Hollister’s major events face uncertain future

UPDATE 11/30/2016 6:25 PM:

Two of Hollister’s major annual events face an uncertain future. One will be grounded next year, the other sits idle.

The Hollister Airshow will not be taking off in 2017. This week, city leaders decided to cancel the 2017 show.

“It’s running about $20,000 short, so we have a deficit every year with the airshow and we don’t see any growth going on with the airshow, so the decision is not to put any more effort into it,” said Hollister Mayor Ignacio Velazquez.

The Father’s Day weekend event would typically bring in five or six performers and draw some 3,000 visitors, an economic boost to airport businesses.

“The businesses at the airport benefited from it. Flight instructions were up, aircraft sales were up, the gliders’ business was up and skydiving’s business was up, so it did benefit the airport businesses,” said Michael Chambless, management services director for Hollister.

But the issue that’s gotten a lot of people revved up is the Hollister Independence rally, the popular biker rally that draws crowds of up to 50,000.

Negotiations between the city and the promoter, Roadshows, LLC., appear to be stalling at this point. The promoter told KION his company suggested adding a fourth day to the event because the 4th of July falls on a Tuesday.

Another issue is money. The city wants promoters to pay $180,000. The promoter said they paid $135,000 this year, and want to pay the same next year. The bulk of that money goes toward keeping everyone safe.

“You’re basically doubling the size of population of Hollister for a few days and so when people ask about the public safety costs that are associated with that, it’s tremendous because we bring in other agencies from outside of the area to help keep this community safe,” said Hollister’s City Manager Bill Avera.

The issue will be up for discussion again next Monday. Residents say they want to see the rally come back.

“I bring my kids to it. We have a good time. They get their faces painted, they look at motorcycles,” Damon Gratz said.

“It’s fun. A lot of people go and I’ve always had a great time and I’ve been going ever since I moved here,” Jan Tiernen said.

“I really like the motorcycle rallies,” Shannon Terrell said. “It’s a nice thing to see all the different motorcycles and it’s really packed.”

Avera said even though the airshow is cancelled in 2017, it could be back again. He said that has happended before, when the motorcycle rally came back after a three year absence.

ORIGINAL POST:

The 2017 Hollister Airshow is grounded and its future beyond that is uncertain.

On Tuesday, the city council failed to approve plans for next year’s airshow amid concerns over costs and the event’s ability to find new performers. The City of Hollister spends about $20,000 each year to stage the event.

The city council voted 2-2, taking no action to approve dates for the 2017 event.

Tonight at 5 and 6, KION’s Mariana Hicks explains what led to the cancelation, and looks at the future of other city-sponsored events like the July fourth motorcycle rally.