A big proposed increase in money for cultural arts and special events may mean more public movies, concerts and large-scale festivals and could push the city of Elgin into the billion-dollar arts and events market.

The city’s 2024 Budget and Financial Plan calls for spending $3.8 million on public events — a 45.69% increase over this year — and adds two new positions, a special events manager and cultural arts and a special events programming manager, to the current staff.

Elgin had 38 special events this past summer that drew 70,000 people, a 75% increase in attendance over the previous summer, Amanda Harris, Cultural Arts and Special Events director, said at Wednesday’s Elgin City Council meeting.

Events included movies, concerts, festivals, block parties, races and walks. The Fourth of July parade and concert had a record 25,000-person attendance, Harris said. A new series of concerts at Festival Park attracted about 20,000 people.

Next summer, the city will host 50 special events, Harris said.

Movies in the Park will increase from four nights to 10 next summer and Concerts in the Park will increase from four to 11.

“(Both) are the second most popular thing Elgin produces,” said Harris, noting they’re easy to organize and draw high attendance numbers.

Cultural programs “grew at an astounding rate this year,” she said. They included Juneteenth, the city’s first Pride Parade and Festival, and the Love on the Lawn hip-hop festival, each coordinated by community organizations with a co-sponsorship from the city.

Next year’s budget calls for more funding for co-sponsored events, which will allow the city to get involved in more of those types of programs, Harris said.

“We want to do more, as we’ve heard from the community, but it takes staff and time,” she said.

Additional staff also is needed to start coordinating more programming at the downtown Hemmens Cultural Center, Harris said. Elgin needs to get back into the touring circuit to draw bigger acts to the center, which they’re planning to do in 2025 after new staff is hired.

“It’s really up to the council if you want to double down on arts and events,” Harris said.

Funding cultural arts and special events is an investment in positioning Elgin to compete in that larger market that allows the city to reach a larger audience who will come from outside of town.

The city’s been working with Create Today on a master plan that has involved meeting with residents, doing surveys, and conducting research into the cultural arts market. A theme coming out of the research shows Elgin residents want more events at the Hemmens, Kate Scorza Ingram of Create Today said.

Americans for the Arts found nonprofit arts and cultural organizations and their audiences generated $151.7 billion in economic activity last year, Ingram said. The market generated 2.6 million jobs and generated $29.1 billion in tax revenues, she said.

Elgin has the potential to tap into that market as the population grows in the area, specifically to the north and west of the city, Ingram said.

“We see an opportunity for increased investment in arts and culture,” she said.

The proposed spending is part of the city’s tentative budget, which is available online and is expected to be approved by the council in mid-December.

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.