Crustacean vacation: Lobster Festival placed ‘on hiatus’
The Redondo Beach Lobster Festival will not return for its 23rd year, the Redondo Chamber of Commerce announced on Monday.
“The Chamber is in transition, there will be a new Redondo Beach Chamber CEO, new staff, new board leadership and festival costs have increased significantly,” Chamber CEO Marna Smeltzer explained in a press release. “The hiatus will give the chamber some time to identify new opportunities.”
The late-September Lobster Festival has long been one of the City of Redondo Beach’s subsidized “Signature Events,” along with the Super Bowl 10K/5K Run, Springfest, and Riviera Village festivals. For Fiscal Year 2017-18, the City had budgeted $5,500 for the Lobster Festival.
That funding was lost when the City of Redondo Beach allowed its contract with the Chamber to lapse last year. The council objected to the 10 percent share of hotel bed tax the Chamber and its related Visitors Bureau secured through its agreement with the city. In FY 2016-17, the Chamber’s and Visitors Bureau’s estimated share of the bed tax was about $730,000, from the $7.6 million collected by the City from hotels.
According to City Manager Joe Hoefgen, “signature events” are currently under study.
“What we will do, as part of the budget is bring forward a report on what Signature Events have been in the past, their dollar impacts, review and evaluate on a go-forward basis,” Hoefgen said. The City budget will likely come before the Council in June before the new fiscal year begins in July.
Earlier this year, the Chamber announced that Smeltzer would step down from her position after 32 years with the business-advocacy organization. In an interview, she said that the turmoil between the Chamber and the City was not the cause of her retirement.
Smeltzer did not respond to requests for comment about the Lobster festival.
Redondo’s lobster hiatus leaves a gap in the Southland’s crustacean-focused festivities. The San Pedro Lobster Festival was canceled last month after organizers cited traffic concerns and parking issues related to the reconstruction of the area’s waterfront.
Lobster prices have been on the rise in recent seasons, according to Captain Kidd’s partner John Mills. The California Spiny Lobster, in particular, has seen an increase because Asian markets have made it a sought-after variety. However, Redondo’s festival has traditionally brushed off the native fauna in favor of Maine lobsters. Those prices have also skyrocketed, from $8 a pound last year to $15 a pound this year.