SUNFEST OF PALM BEACH COUNTY, the nonprofit that runs SunFest, the popular but struggling downtown West Palm Beach music and arts festival, wants to operate the 2025 Lake Worth Beach Street Painting Festival.
SunFest’s proposal to run the downtown chalk art festival in February for $271,000 will be considered Tuesday night by the Lake Worth Beach City Commission.
To be clear: SunFest, the music and arts festival held every year in West Palm Beach, is not moving to Lake Worth Beach, even though the event faces an uncertain future. SunFest officials have offered no update since their vague November announcement that the 2025 event would not be held the first weekend in May along the downtown West Palm waterfront for the first time since the inaugural event in 1983.
The proposal Lake Worth Beach will consider entails SunFest’s staff and volunteers helping the city’s Leisure Services Department put on the Street Painting Festival, which is free and attracts thousands of visitors and artists from around the world.
The city took over the Street Painting Festival in 2021 after the nonprofit that had overseen the event since it began in 1995 was voluntarily dissolved by its board of directors. The endeavor has been a challenge for the city’s small staff, prompting leaders to seek help from an outside consultant for the next chalk art festival, set for Feb. 22-23.
Two firms responded to a request for proposals. An evaluation committee made up of city staff recommended SunFest of Palm Beach County, which ranked first over a plan submitted by Blue Pointe Partners in Tequesta.
The city would pay SunFest $271,220 to run the 2025 event. SunFest will give the city a cut of the proceeds from beverage and food sales. That cut is projected to be $34,000, according to the contract. The contract is for one year but the terms could be extended for an additional five years.
The street painting festival will continue to be free to attendees.
“Our approach will ensure that this cherished community event maintains its unique identity while introducing new elements that enhance the experience for all participants,” Dianna Craven, Sunfest executive director, wrote in a September proposal to Lake Worth Beach.
“We are committed to preserving the beloved tradition of the Street Painting Festival, ensuring it remains distinct and does not become another SunFest,” she said in the proposal.
SunFest’s proposal listed five staff members, including Craven, and said the organization will “leverage” its team of volunteers who have worked previous SunFest’s in West Palm Beach.
SunFest also plans to “collaborate with San Francisco Puffs and Stuff, a trusted partner with over 30 years of experience working with SunFest,’’ the proposal said. Other subcontractors include AEG Live Southeast for stage production for local talent and McAfee Electric for electrical services, the proposal says.
“Our team is fully equipped to handle every aspect of the festival with professionalism, creativity, and efficiency,’’ the proposal says.
SunFest has operated other festivals and events over the years, the proposal said. But it’s mainly known for its downtown West Palm event, which has lost millions of dollars and half its audience over the past eight years.
In its November statement, the organization said that it's exploring "new dates, fresh venues and formats" to keep the festival alive. "We are not saying SunFest is going away. Just taking some time to create something new and fresh," the statement reads.
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About the author
Joe Capozzi is an award-winning reporter based in Lake Worth Beach. He spent more than 30 years writing for newspapers, mostly at The Palm Beach Post, where he wrote about the opioid scourge, invasive pythons, the birth of the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and Palm Beach County government. For 15 years, he covered the Miami Marlins baseball team. Joe left The Post in December 2020. View all posts by Joe Capozzi.