The Fiesta La Ballona of 2024 is swept up, put away and now, fully tabulated. Moving the event back to it’s traditional dates at the end of August was popular with many who took the time to answer the survey, but numbers overall were down.
After several rocky years (that problematic pandemic, the end of the citizen committee) Culver City’s end-of-summer festival landed back on August 23, 24 and 25, and people turned out. The new situation of having a security fence and bag-search checkpoints did not discourage attendees (although one survey respondent noted that their dog was not allowed in, so they opted out.) Ted Stevens, Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services, noted that only 134 surveys were returned out of the estimated thousands of attendees, but those who answered were in favor of the first-time use of uniformed security by almost 40%.
It was banner year for bikes, with Bike Culver City running the valet operation for the second year in a row, and more than 600 people choosing to ride to the Fiesta. From BCC leader Mary Daval, “Bike Culver City has been doing the Fiesta La Ballona bike valet for many years. We are so grateful to Ted Stevens and his team for their willingness to honor and respect our expertise. We valeted -by my count- 637 bikes, skateboards, and scooters—mostly bikes. That’s hundreds of cars off our roads and a significant decrease in pollutants.”
Numbers overall were down; while 2022 showed total revenues of $127,186, and 2023 came in at $139,901, the department’s figures for total revenue for 2024 were $123,085. People spent less on both carnival wristbands and food trucks, although non-food vendors were up from the previous year.
There were 89 volunteers assisting with the event, in addition to the Parks and Rec staff.
Judith Martin-Straw
