PB Holiday Parade canceled this year

The Pacific Beach Holiday Parade has been canceled this year because it lacked adequate sponsorship revenue.

The event was scheduled to be held Dec. 13.

Discover Pacific Beach, the non-profit Business Improvement Association that put on the parade for the last five years, had to make the decision due to current economic conditions which limited sponsorships this year, Executive Director Andy Hanshaw said.

“It was a very difficult but realistic decision for the Parade Committee and Discover Pacific Beach,” Hanshaw said. “It’s a financial decision and the fact of the matter is we are not in the position to take on the high costs of putting on such a large event. We are grateful for the time and effort that our volunteer Parade Committee and all of our volunteers have put into this event year after year but in the end, our funding gap was too large to overcome. We are hopeful that we can find a way to make it return in 2010.”

Hanshaw expressed thanks to members of the PB Hospitality Task Force, the Pacific Beach Town Council, Supervisor Pam Slater-Price and Councilman Kevin Faulconer for their initial support of the parade earlier in the process.

Meanwhile, Discover Pacific Beach is looking into holding another event to signal the start of the holiday season for the Pacific Beach community, Hanshaw said.

“We are actively working on an alternative to the parade that will create a festive holiday event here in PB,” he said.

John Gregory writes for the Beach & Bay Press, where this story was first published.

Tags: Andy Hanshaw, cancelled, Discover Pacific Beach, lack of sponsorship, Pacific Beach Holiday Parade, parade, revenue, SDNN

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