Des Plaines will pay a Chicago-based event services company up to $20,000 to organize, promote and produce this year’s Des Plaines Summer Festival.
City Council voted 5-3 at a recent meeting to hire Ravenswood Event Services at an up-front cost of $10,000 to create and host the annual one-and-a-half-day event, scheduled for June.
City Manager Michael Bartholomew explained that the previous company hired to run the event, Special Events Management, was paid a $10,000 fee. Company officials later told the city they had taken a loss on the event, he said.
Bartholomew said the city would audit the financial performance of the summer festival this year — something that did not happen in the past — and pay up to $10,000 to cover any loss incurred by Ravenswood Event Services.
But, Bartholomew told the aldermen, “in no event shall our costs exceed $20,000.”
Mayor Matt Bogusz emphasized that the deal is a novel one for the city, because if there is surplus revenue the city will receive 30 percent of the profit while Ravenswood will take home the rest.
Free entry will be offered to all festival-goers, said Ravenswood president and owner Ralph Concepcion. Revenue from the event will come from several streams, including a percentage of vendor sales, sponsorships and beverage and food sales.
Ald. James Brookman, 5th, questioned why the city would be on the hook for a loss of up to $10,000.
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The agreement “reduces the incentive to have a successful event,” he said.
“It is entirely possible the loss could exceed $10,000; in fact, it might even be probable,” Concepcion said.
Normally, Concepcion said, his company works on a fee-for-service model and the town or agency that hired Ravenswood is responsible for the total event costs. Out of a total of 50 events a year, Concepcion said this deal is the only such arrangement agreed to by his company.
During negotiations with city staff, Concepcion said, he realized that the summer festival hadn’t turned a profit in years.
“My negotiation was that we needed to be protected at some level on the downside while we resurrect this event and build it up and make it successful over the long term,” he said.
Part of that work includes building a new website and bringing in new media partners to help promote the event, Concepcion said.
Brookman did not appear satisfied with Concepcion’s response.
“I think we are on the hook here for $20,000 going in,” he said. “I don’t think there is any way we can generate that kind of money in a day and a half.”
The majority of the city’s aldermen favored the agreement, though there were some concerns about the type of events, food and activities that will be available.
Ald. Michael Charewicz, 8th, expressed hope that the summer event would retain a “Des Plaines flavor.”
Concepcion said his company would “try very hard to engage local restaurants in Des Plaines,” to urge them to participate in the event.
“Our philosophy as an event company is to try to make all the events we work on as local as possible, because we think those are the most successful events and the most sustainable,” Concepcion said.
Brookman and Ald. John Robinson, 2nd, voted against the agreement. Ald. Dick Sayad, 4th, initially was in favor but at a later meeting altered his vote, saying he had a change of heart. Sayad tried to pass a motion to force the council to have a second vote on the agreement, but it failed 4-4, with the mayor stepping in as tie-breaker and voting no.
In previous years, the festival has been known as the Des Plaines Summer Fling and the Taste of Des Plaines.