Fun Zone, vendor booths added to Independence Day Event

By Doug Spoon, Editor

The City of Menifee’s Independence Day Celebration has been expanded from the originally announced format to include a Kids’ Fun Zone and food and craft vendors at Wheatfield Park, a city official said Wednesday night.

The event will take place on Saturday, June 26. The festival and fireworks show traditionally is held the Saturday before July 4, but this year it is being held two Saturdays before the holiday.

Last year, because of COVID-19 restrictions, the City presented only an expanded fireworks show which could be viewed from vehicles in the parking lot at Mt. San Jacinto College. The festival, which normally attracts several thousand visitors to food and craft booths and a Fun Zone in Wheatfield Park, was cancelled. When Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in May that most COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted June 15, Nicks was asked whether the original plan of a fireworks-only show this year would be expanded.

“While it will be slightly different than previous years, we plan to have a drive-in style event at MSJC, but we are adding a few additional components such as food vendors partnering with the Lake Menifee Women’s club. As regulations and our venue partners allow, we may be able to add more event components,” Nicks said via an email sent to Menifee 24/7 from public information officer Dominique Samario on May 24.

“The food vendors are slated for MSJC at this point. If we are able to add additional elements, those may be at MSJC or Wheatfield Park, depending on our partner agencies’ policies as the event nears,” the email continued.

In a Menifee 24/7 online survey of readers, 65 percent of those responding said they wanted a full festival to return to Wheatfield Park, and an additional 11 percent said they wanted at least a partial festival in addition to the fireworks show.

Wednesday night, Nicks told City Council members that, “We just heard from our partners at Valley-Wide within the last week, and we will be able to use Wheatfield Park. Just hearing that within a week, we quickly created a Fun Zone with inflatables and activities for the kids to use for a nominal fee [$10], and we will have some food and craft vendors there, too. We’re trying to do as much as we can with the time we have to try and make it a good experience for everyone.”

Viewing of the fireworks show from the best viewing spots requires a reservation for space in the MSJC parking lot. That lot will open at 5 p.m., with a live broadcast by radio station Q 103.3 at 7 p.m. The fireworks show will begin at 9 p.m. Nicks said those who wish to use unreserved parking spaces at MSJC and walk over to Wheatfield Park for the festival events may do so.

Nicks also said guests may sit at Wheatfield Park to watch the fireworks from there. The Fun Zone and other events at Wheatfield Park also will open at 5 p.m. There will be no parade down La Piedra Road this year.

As in years past, the Lake Menifee Women's Club is partnering with the City of Menifee in funding the event.

A study of the Community Services Department budget for the fiscal year concluding June 30 shows there is plenty of funding left to pay for the City's part in the additional activities at Wheatfield Park. According to savings reported by Nicks to Menifee 24/7 in budget categories due to COVID-19 event cancellations, there is approximately $295,000 in unused funds in four key categories: Events, Supplies, Promotionals/Advertising, and Professional Services.

The Community Services budget for Events in 2020-21 was originally set at $146,950. It was increased in a mid-year budget adjustment to $199,848. Only about 50 percent of that amount had been spent as of June 7 – the date of an email from Nicks. The amount to be spent on the expanded Independence Day Festival will not be reported until this year’s budget report is final.

“The account was increased with the hope that COVID restrictions would be lifted sooner in FY20-21 and more events would be possible,” Nicks said.

The budget for Supplies was increased by $16,700 at mid-year to a total of $91,070. Nicks said only about 15 percent of that has been expended. The budget for Promotional/Advertising was set at $43,350, and only about $3,000 of that amount has been spent.

In addition, approximately $77,950 is left in the budget for Professional Services – about 50 percent of the original budget.

Nicks said the unused funds in these budget categories will not necessarily carry over to next fiscal year’s Community Services budget. In fact, all but one of those budgets has been decreased for 2021-22 (Supplies).

“Unspent amounts for department budgets are part of the end of fiscal year general fund balance that the Finance Department reports during the budget workshop and presentations,” Nicks said. “The amounts are not specifically carried over to each department.”