The 26th Mushroom Mardi Gras is moving downtown after all, after
an agreement was worked out between the Mardi Gras board and the
city. The annual festival and scholarship fund-raiser is scheduled
for its traditional time, Memorial Day weekend, May 28-29. Sunday
Minnich, until recently the chamber
’s executive director and major event planner, has been hired by
Mushroom Mardi Gras to bring off the switch, which Minnich said she
will be pleased to do.
The 26th Mushroom Mardi Gras is moving downtown after all, after an agreement was worked out between the Mardi Gras board and the city.
The annual festival and scholarship fund-raiser is scheduled for its traditional time, Memorial Day weekend, May 28-29.
Sunday Minnich, until recently the chamber’s executive director and major event planner, has been hired by Mushroom Mardi Gras to bring off the switch, which Minnich said she will be pleased to do.
“As they say, when one door closes, another one opens,” Minnich said. “Fortunately for me, my door opened sooner than later, and I suddenly had this great opportunity in front of me.”
After congregating for many years at Community Park and using an adjacent large empty lot for critical parking, the Mardi Gras is having to move because the lot is no longer available. Construction will begin soon on the city’s $26.1 million indoor recreation center that will include both senior and youth centers. Without the parking lot, hundreds of visiting vehicles will clog nearby residential streets and retail lots, which is a burden the city would rather not allow.
The downtown area has a great deal of parking available, though not all in one place, and residents are used to clogged streets during September’s Taste of Morgan Hill and the July Fourth street dance, parade and 5K run.
Minnich has organized several Taste of Morgan Hill events while at the Chamber, which though smaller than Mardi Gras, has a similar format and is held downtown. While the entire Community Park was fenced off and visitors pay a single entry fee to vendor booths, children’s area and the major musical attractions, a downtown Mardi Gras would be structured differently.
The community center’s outdoor amphitheater could be fenced off with a fee charged for the concerts; visitors could enjoy the food, arts and crafts booths for free while tickets for Kid’s Zone rides could continue to be purchased.
The Chamber of Commerce had offered to jointly sponsor the event but an agreement could not be worked out. Instead, when the Mardi Gras board heard that Minnich was free, they hired her to lead them into a new era.
“We are very excited about working with Sunday and bringing the festival to downtown Morgan Hill,” said Brad Spencer, who founded the festival and who is still on the all-volunteer board. “By bringing the festival downtown, we plan to work closely with the Morgan Hill Downtown Association and merchants, on making this a very unique, successful event.”
“The important thing is that 26 years of tradition, as well as the support and contributions the festival provides to so many non-profit organizations and educational scholarships, will continue,” Minnich said.
The Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)3 charitable organization. Proceeds from the festival support local non-profit organizations and has provided approximately $500,000 in college scholarships since 1980.
By changing locations and eliminating the general entry fee, more support from sponsors will be necessary to keep the scholarships at their current level.
For festival or sponsorship details, contact Sunday Minnich at mm**@*****************as.com or 778-1786.
