SANFORD, Fla. – The Sanford Community Redevelopment Agency board met Wednesday and approved $10,500 towards city costs for the annual Jingle Jam street festival hosted by Sanford Main Street.
“This year it was a big decision for our board not to pursue it as rising cost had definitely made it difficult to make it a fundraising event,” said Christina Hollerbach, president of Sanford Main Street.
Back in August, Sanford Main Street posted on Facebook their decision to cancel the event, blaming rising costs and mounting fatigue caused by ever-increasing regulations.
Hollerbach is also the CEO at Hollerbach’s German Restaurant and said the festival is vital for her business and the community.
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“Hearing that community support and seeing how important it was to people and also kind of getting the nod from the city that, yes, we’d like you to pursue this again, encouraged us to make it happen,” Hollerbach said.
Server Kelsey Diaz at Breezeway Bar & Restaurant in downtown Sanford is getting in the holiday spirit, and she’s also hoping the annual Jingle Jam street festival scheduled for Dec. 16 will help her restaurant and many other downtown businesses and vendors see a big boost.
“We get a lot of tourists who come. People who enjoy Christmas, they want to bring their families and their kids,” said Diaz.
Charles Davis is the chairman of the Sanford CRA.
“That’s what the goal is: to bring people into downtown,” said Davis. “As a CRA, we just really want to help organizations and events cover their city costs so that they can continue to do events in the downtown district.”
Sanford leaders told News 6 that city staff continue to work with people who want to hold special events.
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