Cinco de Mayo plans Big for 2010

When the City Council established a new Parks and Rec position, they did so with the idea that the new position would help bring in revenue to the City. So, last night, a relatively new Parks & Rec Director, Matt Jankowski,  presented his proposal to the City to bring in two major bands for next year’s Cinco De Mayo celebration and take that event to the next level. Working closely with Vice Mayor, Carmen Casillas who heads up Los Vecinos Y Campanero, the proposal involves bringing two Big Name bands to Globe  for two 1-day events. The bands: Little Joe Y Familia (a Tex Mex band) and Tierra (first Latino band to have four songs on the national charts) will bring a new brand of major entertainment to the area and a promise of profits to the City and organizers if all goes according to plan.

Although the event will not take place until Spring of 2010, the City Council was asked to commit last night to  a contract- and deposit- for two big-name bands, in order to secure dates. The proposal involved a $32,000 commitment to bring in Little Joe Y Familia and  Tierra for two 1-day events to be held at the Community Center on April 30th and May 1st to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. The City’s investment is $16,000, while Los Vecinos Y Campanero will put up the other $16,000.

Jankowski explained that he had already lined up verbal agreements from 3 major sponsors totaling $15,000 “or more” to help offset the City’s investment. The sponsors include the County ($5000), Golden Eagle Distributors ($5000 plus- depending on whether they will also be providing the the liquor sales), and Three Amigos Tequila, “an up and coming tequila manufacturer in the Valley” who has agreed to provide between $5-$10,000 according to Jankowski. In addition, “I have 273 commitments for tickets right now,” said Jankowski which translates into another $13,000 plus.

Both the City and Los Vecinos Y Campanero’s will recoup their investment if the event makes at least $32,000. If the event does much better than that, and Jankowski and Casillas believe it will, the City will take any profits above and beyond the costs, while Campanero’s will simply recoup their initial investment.

The tickets which are estimated to run $30 for a one-day pass and $50 for a two-day pass will be sold on-line through an agency and it is hoped people might even buy tickets to give as Christmas.presents. Councilman Lerry Alderman brought up the question of whether there would be any opportunity for people to attend portions of the event for free as they have been used to doing in the past, and while Jankowski said he would look into it, the logistics of splitting the event and managing the crowd who was attending for free and those paying for each day’s event makes that prospect highly unlikely. What is more likely is establishing lower ticket prices for kids under 12.

The event is expected to bring in 4-5000 people and do close to $200,000 in ticket sales according to the organizers.