By ARABELLA SERRATA
editor@sbnewspaper.com
The City of San Benito is preparing for its annual Hog Waddle Music Festival, offering a weekend packed with family-friendly events, but the City has also garnered backlash from critics who contend the festival’s costs outweigh its benefits.
According to the City of San Benito Public Information Officer Christina Garcia, the event will feature live performances by the Randy Rodgers Band, Louie the Singer, Whiskey D, Chaynne, Cardenales de Nuevo Leon, Milla 22, and more. The event features a cook-off competition.
“The Hog Waddle Concert and Cookoff is all about giving the community a fun day out, with plenty of entertainment and activities for the whole family,” said Garica.
But the issue of profitability involving City-organized music festivals such as the Hog Waddle and Resaca Fest has been among the talking points of the City’s critics and especially online.
The issue was even raised in public by at least one sitting commissioner. In a past City Council meeting, San Benito City Commissioner Deborah Morales suggested that the City pull funds from events like the Hog Waddle and Resaca Fest to properly address the perceived stray animal problem in San Benito.
“We need to pull funds from other places…I’m seeing we’re spending $300,000 on events we haven’t seen profitable, as of yet,” regarding a request from a San Benito resident to address the stray issue.
Garcia stated that the City has budgeted $300,000, in total, for special events during this fiscal year. This includes Christmas on the Resaca, Resaca Fest, Halloween events, and the Christmas parade. The Hog Waddle alone has $150,000 allocated to the event, which is far from some of the social media commenters who projected costs ranging from $200,000-$500,000.
“As a ticketed event, the costs will be covered through a combination of ticket sales, sponsorships, vendor fees and other event-related sales,” said City Manager Fred Sandoval.
“Whether it’s the live music or the cookoff, we want to ensure that everyone can enjoy a fun, family-friendly experience at Hog Waddle. Our goal is to bring incredible talents like Randy Rogers and Louie the Singer to the community, all while keeping it affordable for families to have a great time together,” said Garcia.
The City, however, has placed a restriction on comments made on its Facebook page regarding the Hog Waddle and other posts.
As reported last week by the NEWS, hoping to attract more attendees from far and wide, this year’s San Benito Hog Waddle Concert & Cook-off is being held at the San Benito Fairgrounds, Feb. 20-23 and includes music from various genres, including country, Norteño and rock.
For more information on the Hog Waddle, visit the official San Benito website at cityofsanbenito.com or call (956) 361-3800. To purchase tickets, visit eventbrite.com.
2 comments
And now you city doesn’t like the negative reviews because you know you’re wasting taxpayers money on something that’s not worth having. . You want to feel your doing something right yeah right. That’s now you don’t like our taxpayers comments. You were caught again with your pants down. Shame on you city commissioners and city manager and mayor
Be transparent and show the public how much the hog waddle event loses. Whether its 30 thousand or 60 thousand. Why lose money or throw away money. I know when the special event board was up and running those events were free but it always made money. To bad they did away with the special event baord.