Plans to possibly turn control of the city
’s biggest festival, the Mushroom Mardi Gras, over to the Morgan
Hill Chamber of Commerce have been scuttled, as representatives
from the chamber board and the Mushroom Mardi Gras board could not
come to terms.
Plans to possibly turn control of the city’s biggest festival, the Mushroom Mardi Gras, over to the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce have been scuttled, as representatives from the chamber board and the Mushroom Mardi Gras board could not come to terms.
According to Dan Ehrler, chamber executive director, representatives from the two organizations met twice to consider a proposal by members of both boards for the chamber to take over the festival and move it to downtown Morgan Hill.
The Mushroom Mardi Gras has been held at Community Park the last weekend in May, but this year, parking would be a problem as the vacant lot normally used will be unavailable as the City of Morgan Hill begins construction on the city’s Indoor Recreation Center near Edmundson Avenue and Monterey Road.
“Items were included in the terms that the Mushroom Mardi Gras board couldn’t accept, and our board felt were very important to the agreement,” Ehrler said Thursday. “Interest was expressed in an agreement by some of our board members, and there was interest by some members of their group.”
Tilly Mayeda, MMG festival chair, and Steve Silvera, MMG board chair, could not be reached for comment by press time.
Morgan Hill Police Department Lt. Joe Sampson said Thursday he was not aware of a change of venue for the event, but he expected whichever group is in charge would be working closely with the city and the police.
“I’m confident they will involve us in the planning process,” he said. “I imagine they are still in the early stages … If the event is held downtown, the biggest challenges I see right off the bat are controlled entry points. The event typically charges an entrance fee, where the Taste of Morgan Hill, which is held downtown, does not.”
Sampson said he believes the downtown entrances could be controlled, possibly by gates.
“For this year’s Taste, there were actually fences set up at Dunne and Monterey, and Main and Monterey, which created a visual barrier,” he said. “Downtown traffic can be re-routed, as it is for the Taste … Our first priority, obviously, is that there is a safe environment for festival goers, as well as around the event.”
Mushroom Mardi Gras, a a non-profit organization chartered in 1980, has not made public any plans for a new location for the event. It is a fully volunteer organization.
The festival began as a fundraiser for the local fire department. Prop. 13 had just passed in 1973 and Brad Spencer, the fire chief at the time, found his department in need of money.
He knew he needed to do something more than hold bake sales and dinner-dances. While in San Francisco attending a renaissance fair he decided a festival was what he needed to do. Thus, the festival was born.
