The future of Monterey Park’s Lunar New Year Festival and the City’s Play Days Parade will be discussed at the upcoming council meeting on Wednesday, December 2.

City staff has recommended cancelling the 2010 Play Days Parade because of increased costs and reduced city budgets. The Parade is a key element of the city’s annual birthday celebration marking the city incorporation in 1916. The parade has been held since 1966 when the city celebrated its 50th anniversary.

The staff report that the Pay Days Carnival raises about $19,500. Additional expenses estimated at about $10,000 for Staff labor were absorbed by city departments.  However, The Play Days Committee was informed by the city that in 2010 the City departments will not absorb the staff cost and the event must be self-supporting. Department budgets for special events were cut by the City Council in budget proceedings last summer. As a result, there won’t be enough revenues to conduct the parade.

Chinese New Year

The City’s Lunar New Year Celebration, also called the Chinese New Year Festival and sometimes the “Lantern Festival,” has been on rocky ground for the past several years. The city has had difficulty getting professional producers to undertake the street festival along Garvey Avenue.

This year, a formal “Request For Proposals” were not approved by the Council until September and no responses were received. The City Council directed staff that special events need to be self-sustaing and no city funds would be used. The city has been cutting back expenses because of threats of losses in city funds resulting from state raids on municipal budgets.

City Staff is offering a number of options including cancelling the street festival and replacing it by smaller events. One event could be held at the City-owned parking lot along Lincoln and Garvey Avenues. Another possibility would be a one-day event at Barnes Park.Another option is to allow the event to "go dark" or be cancelled for one year.

In past years, Garvey Avenue between Garfield and Alhambra Avenues has been closed for two days for the Chinese New Year festival. Hundreds of venders selling clothes, DVD’s, food, cultural craft items and carnival rides lined the street. The event drew thousands of shoppers to the city’s historic downtown area.