The Sights & Sounds of Christmas festival, traditionally held over eight days across two weeks, will be condensed to a single day for the 2024 season.
Since 1987, the Sights & Sounds of Christmas festival has drawn locals and visitors from across Central Texas with live music, carnival rides and a variety of food vendors. However, Elva Zdeb, president of the board of directors, said the carnival vendor responsible for the rides announced they would not operate this year, prompting the board to pause the festival in June.
“We had a long-time relationship with that carnival and trying to find another carnival; that’s something you do two, three years in advance… we weren’t coming up with any equivalents that would work,” Zdeb said.
The carnival vendor also supplied the money system to the park, called ‘Magic Money.’ That system was used to pay for the entrance fee, to go on rides and how the festival got its percentage proceeds from nonprofits.
“Without that money system they provided, there’s no way to do ticket sales or all the great things we do when it comes to money,” Zdeb said. “Most events pay an additional rate to have a money system but because ours was wrapped into the carnival, we were really blessed, and we didn’t have to do that for so many years.”
If Zdeb had found a new carnival and paid for a new money system, she said the cost outlay would’ve gone to the guests who would’ve had to pay a higher entrance fee.
Organizing the eight-day festival was a major undertaking, Zdeb said, with responsibilities shared between the board of directors and committee members. Despite the workload, all members volunteer their time and are unpaid.
Brian Olson, former president of Sights & Sounds and current ex-officio, said as a member of the board, the financial commitments have changed over the years.
“For an entity of our size that’s over a half a million dollar budgeted event, we’re lucky to just pay our bills and have enough money for next year to reinvest in something small,” Olson said. “We’re not walking away with hundreds of thousands of dollars, so if…you have one bad rain day, you now can’t pay your bills because you need all six days to bring that money.”
One major change to this year’s festival is its shift to a free, single-day event dubbed Hometown Holidays on Dec. 14.
In previous years, the park was enclosed by a mile and a half of fencing with security provided for four weeks. This year, security will be in place for the single festival day only, with no fencing around the park.
“Without having fencing, then how do we charge [attendees] $5 to come in when you can come in any way you want?” Zdeb said. “So then the next feat was ‘if we’re going to have a zero cost event, then how do we make enough money to pay for the expenses?’ and that’s where we rely on sponsorships.”
In addition to cutting costs on security, Zdeb said the festival is also saving on infrastructure, goods and insurance – spending just 30% of what is typically allocated for Sights & Sounds.
Olson said the city now requires Sights & Sounds to acquire temporary food permits 60 days in advance of the event rather than the standard requirement of 72 hours.
“When I was president, we could submit our health permits stuff the week prior to the event opening, and they’d come and do their surveys,” Olson said. “That envelope has continued to be pushed out further and further and further for us versus a normal for any other event, and they use the excuse of our size.”
The one-day event will kick off with the 5k Jingle Bell Run at 9 a.m. and run until 9 p.m., ending with a performance from The Spazmatics.
Zdeb said the festival’s light displays are a cornerstone of its appeal. Sights & Sounds receives a city grant aimed at boosting tourism, a portion of which is specifically allocated to funding these lights.
“There will be lights but like the big star, the carriage, the big ornaments on the ground, we won’t have those, because the [carnival company] that we use, would have to set those up,” Zdeb said.
For resident Michael Pinkston, the festival became part of his Christmas tradition. Pinkston attended his first Sights & Sounds festival in 2002 and he has seen the festival grow over the years.
“It used to be very small and just focused on the citizens and just for the children but over time, that changed,” Pinkston said. “One year they put the fences around it and started charging admission, which I get. But then they started doing the carnival and once that was introduced, that just got bigger and bigger until now.”
Plans for the 2025 festival include preserving traditions while rethinking key attractions, according to Zdeb.
“We’re going to try and make the best decisions with what we have available so that our community doesn’t have to incur a lot of additional costs,” Zdeb said.
