Tourism board looks to start March festival

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The Gonzales Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) met last Thursday to discuss starting a new festival. They decided upon naming it the Texas Independence Festival with a focus on bringing attention to the Runaway Scrape with a series of speakers, performances, and demonstrations.

And they intend to start fast, with a goal of having the first one this March.

While concrete details are slim at this early stage, CVB officials are hopeful that this will become a successful springtime version of October's Come and Take It Celebration.

CVB Director Clint Hille is hopeful the event can be held at various locations across town on or about March 16-17. A program of interest would be a cannon or musket shooting demonstration with multiple teams in some sort of competition. The Crystal Theatre could be used for performances by Texas singers and songwriters or any type of play or event related to the theme of the festivities.

As for the estimated cost for staging such a spectacle, that too is still to be determined, Hille said. Goals listed by the group mention mentoring an “event planner” for the fest and offering “supportive resources to initiate and promote” the event.

The CVB also listed out a set of goals they wish to accomplish for 2019. Some of those are:

  • Champion an increased number of events;
  • Increase CVB visibility through education and networking on social media;
  • Collaborate with the chamber of commerce with emphasis on goal planning with CVB;
  • Building a volunteer base to offer event planners a supportive cast;
  • Each board member to offer a mentorship to individuals to support volunteerism.

The board also listed City of Gonzales hotel occupancy tax (HOT) revenues. Over $240,000 was projected for fiscal year ending Sept. 2018 and $276,000 is projected through Sept. 2019. Income through this November has already totaled $50,278.34 with a projection of $76,000.

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