LaredoBuzz.Com

Courtesy Xochitl Mora,

Local members invite all Rio Grande Valley and Texas area festivals and events to attend, participate and learn

The City of McAllen is once again proudly hosting this year’s Texas Festival & Events Association (TFEA) Annual Conference, which will be held from August 9-11, 2019 at the McAllen Convention Center.  With over 450-member festivals and events, organizers are expecting attendees from not only Texas, but also, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and even Mexico. This is the first time in the organization’s 26-year history that the conference has selected the same location two years in a row.

This year’s conference theme is “Ignite the Future. Ignite. Inspire. Imagine.” and organizers are hoping that conference attendees will walk away completely blown away by the informative, entertaining and educational sessions, that all serve to give festival and event coordinators the tools and tips to host bigger, better or just smarter events.    This organization helps to offer guidance, suggestions, ideas and just as importantly, award the best of the best various festivals and events throughout Texas.

“I am so excited to welcome friends and neighbors from all over Texas to the wonderful city of McAllen, where they can celebrate and experience a rich and vibrant culture that is a part of all of the events we host here in McAllen and the Rio Grande Valley,” said City of McAllen Mayor Jim Darling.

Aside from local McAllen and Rio Grande Valley festivals and events, such as McAllen Holiday Parade, Palm Fest, Car Fest, Quinta Mazatlán Monarch Festival, McAllen Marathon, as well as the Fiesta Edinburg and Weslaco Onion Festival, who are all part of the organization, other festivals and events that attendees to the conference can learn from include Tomball Rails & Tails Mudbug Festival;  Fiesta Flambeau Parade; Fiesta Oyster Bake; Grape Fest in Grapevine; Main Street Fort Worth; Plano Balloon Fest; Poteet Strawberry Festival; and the Washington’s Birthday Celebration, to name a few.

“Thanks to TFEA, our member organizations have been able to not only learn from the best of the best, but also, share ideas and make contacts that will help them in planning and managing their festivals and events into premier productions that their communities can be proud of,” said Mike Baxter, Director of Marketing and Tourism, CFEE, for the City of Tomball and 2019 President of TFEA.

“The festivals and events that are celebrated in Texas are a reflection of the best of our cities, our people and our values.  Aside from being economic generators for our cities, festivals and events bring families, friends and strangers together.  The presentations and sessions at the annual TFEA conference give us the tools, knowledge and ideas to do that even better.  I encourage festivals and events, as well as vendors from throughout the Rio Grande Valley and Texas to come be a part of this special conference taking place right here in McAllen this year,” he concluded.

The conference will also offer various educational tracts, beginning on Wednesday, August 7, for those who wish to earn credit from the Texas Event Management Institute (TEMI), with two different sessions.  TEMI credit counts as Advanced Development Elective for the Certified Festivals and Events Association

(CFEA).  Additional Thursday sessions are on the TEMI Track-CFEA Credit and Continuing Education Units, which will be available from South Texas College in McAllen, Texas.

“Through the Texas Event Management Institute, we want to focus on ways we can continue to learn from each other:  the best practices, share ideas and learn new trends to keep our festivals and events fun, innovative and important parts of our community’s identities,” said Joe Vera, Assistant City Manager for the City of McAllen, as well as a founding member and current President-Elect for TFEA.

Additionally, event and festival vendors are invited to participate in the conference’s trade show, which is expected to feature about 45 vendors, including the famed Rental World based here in the Rio Grande Valley.

Some of the internationally renowned speakers presenting at this year’s TFEA conference include Guy LaFlamme, of Ottawa, Canada.  Laflamme specializes in the creation, production and marketing of cultural, recreational and tourism products, with over 25 years’ experience in the field. He has attended festivals and events in over 25 different countries, providing a global perspective on best practices in the industry. He is an instructor on Event Management at the University of Ottawa.

According to the organization, the impact of festivals and special events on the communities they serve is multifaceted. Their power to be an economic engine, generating direct spending by unique visitors and the redistribution of that wealth through the community, is well-documented.  Events of all sizes, from small community gatherings to mega-festivals, infuse new dollars into the economy, generate jobs and create significant tax revenues.

A recent study by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley found the economic impact of the McAllen Holiday Parade in the city alone is $13.6 million, while Fiesta Oyster Bake, hosted and organized by the St. Mary’s University Alumni Association as a scholarship fundraiser, provided 68 students with $390,000 in scholarship money in 2017 alone, according to Pete Hansen, Executive Director of Alumni Relations for St. Mary’s University.

Festivals and events also share the unique ability to create social capital, such as community pride, destination brand awareness, media activity and stakeholder engagement. While social capital is difficult to track and measure, it is equally as difficult to replace in building a vibrant sense of place.  According to Kay Wolf, CFEE, TFEA Executive Director and founding member, communities become known for the festivals and events they host.

Sponsors for this year’s conference include, City of McAllen; Visit McAllen, TX; McAllen Convention Center;  McAllen Parks & Recreation;  McAllen Performing Arts; Metro McAllen; Quinta Mazatlán; McAllen Chamber; Explore McAllen;dfest; Saffire; Kaliff Insurance; Grapevine, Texas ; VisitWidget; Budweiser;     IBC Bank; Rental World; Heart of America Shows; and Texas Regional Bank, as well as several other festivals, vendor organizations and communities members of the TFEA organization.