Flores: McAllen’s annual events and festivals generate over $100 million in economic impact

MCALLEN, Texas – The City of McAllen hosts around 800 annual events that contribute over $100 million in economic impact.

Among the better known are Fiesta de Palmas, MXLAN, the Holiday Parade, South Pole, Sunset Live, and the McAllen International CarFest.

The rationale for such festivals was explained by Yajaira Flores, McAllen’s director of convention facilities, at a recent McAllen Citizens League event. She said those signature programs are produced in house by the City of McAllen team to focus on celebrating the city’s culture.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work in different venues and work in different cities, and McAllen has something that’s so, so special. When we produce events in McAllen, there’s almost like a magic that comes together,” Flores said.

“We have been named already three times by the International Festival and Events Association as a World Festival and Event City. We’re up there with Philadelphia, with Sydney, Australia, with the best of the best, of being a Festival and Event City. That’s something that took us a lot of years to get to, and we’re really, really, proud of.”

Flores gave a snapshot of the ripple effects that City of McAllen events produce in terms of dollars, cents and economic impact.

“The total spending that occurs because we have these events is $104 million. Now what that impact equals to is to help in the creation of over 1,500 jobs, which generate $31 million in labor income, a total economic impact of $119 million. They add $54.6 million to the gross GDP and $7.2 million in state and local taxes,” Flores said.

“So, from that aspect, there is definitely a huge return on investment in creating these events for the City of McAllen.”

Flores says good information can be obtained from Ticketmaster. Such as how many people are visiting from outside of the region.

“When we are creating events, yes, it’s great that our residents are going to these events, but we have noticed that the difference between our residents and our visitors is continuing to grow. And so, at this point, 34% of attendees are traveling 50 miles plus to come to our events. Which means that they’re probably staying at our hotels, they’re eating at our restaurants, they’re shopping at our retail locations, which is contributing to a higher economic impact,” Flores said.

“So, events are generating great quality of life, but they’re putting heads of beds, which is also extremely important, and we consider a measure of success for the events that we produce.”

While economic impact is important, Flores said, the festivals the City of McAllen produce also enhance civic pride.

“Economic impact is one of the metrics that we use to showcase a successful event. But it is really about civic pride. It’s about being able to celebrate who we are. And I think that for a long time that might have been a little bit lost.”

By way of example, Flores recalled her time at school in McAllen.

“I know when I was in high school, people couldn’t wait to leave McAllen. They wanted to go to San Antonio and Austin and Houston and bigger cities, because there wasn’t enough to do in our own hometown and our home city. But now we see that that needle has started to shift,” Flores said.

“Our authenticity is what makes us so unique. And these events that we are producing is a little bit about that. It allows us to tell our own story of who we are, which is a really special story.”

Flores says the tourism department creates videos to showcase McAllen. And these videos are shown all over McAllen and different parts of Mexico.

“They really showing who we are, and everybody who sees them says, wow, what is that? We definitely need to go there. That seems so so amazing,” Flores said. “We are such a unique blend here, right? We’re not just Texan, and we’re not just American. We’re not Mexican, we’re something that is different and especially unique, and we’re able to really capture that with the events that we produce, and the numbers keep on growing.”

Flores says the City’s vision for its festivals and events is to “position McAllen as a vibrant cultural hub where traditions are re imagined, communities unite, and celebrations ignite the spirit of South Texas. She said the idea is to “enrich the quality of life for generations, blending heritage with innovation to place our city on the map as a destination for unforgettable cultural events. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Flores continued: “On one end, we have that civic pride of being able to create events that are going to make us proud of who we are and where we’re from, and also let’s place our city on the map. When people hear of McAllen, we want them to hear the positive and the good things. And these events allow us to tell our own story, right? And if we don’t tell our own story, then somebody is going to tell that story for us.”

Flores concluded her remarks with a look at future plans.

“And so, what’s next? What else do we do? Well, number one, we want to continue to enhance the events that we’re currently doing. Two, we know that the people that come to our events (by and large) don’t have a huge annual budget. They don’t have a big household income… (but) they’re still coming, and they’re still spending money at these events. And so, it’s a huge initiative for us now to focus on, what can we do for quality-of-life programming that’s free for the region.”

Flores said McAllen produces up to 12 concerts that are free to the public. We have six concerts… in the park, Sunset Live… if you haven’t gone, they are absolutely amazing. We now have a partnership with the Symphony that does a free symphony in the park in October, and we’ve just started a new Jazz Festival. It’s called the MIJA, McAllen International Jazz Alliance, and this jazz festival kicks off our Sunset Live series. It’s a free concert in the park, a full day with musicians from all over the world, including musicians from McAllen and South Texas.”

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