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With the goal of increasing attendance at the Hollister Independence Rally and overall tourism in the city, the Business Advisory Commission is backing a longer event.
At the Aug. 19 meeting, the commissioners agreed to support an extended rally and also expressed support for adding a family-oriented element. The commission also suggested looking into having businesses rent out their storefronts to rally vendors as another way to profit from the event, and called for improved rally marketing efforts.
The rally has been a point of contention among community members over the years. Supporters, including a majority of the Hollister City Council members, say it’s an economic opportunity for the community and that it benefits downtown businesses. Critics of the rally cite safety concerns and the cost to taxpayers.
The commissioners considered recommendations to the Hollister City Council on the heels of City Manager Ana Cortez proposing to skip the event in 2027. Her reasoning was that it would give city officials time to organize the rally and increase attendance and because it’s “highly unlikely” the city has the budget for it.
The city has contracted with promoter Roadshows Inc. as a consultant in organizing the rally.
The advisory commission consists of four local business owners, along with Hollister Downtown Association CEO Omar Rosa and San Benito County Chamber of Commerce Board interim CEO Christina Reyes.
Several commissioners said businesses would benefit from a longer rally because it gives them more time to make up for the additional expenses they incur for the holiday weekend.
“Some of the businesses, for example restaurants and bars, are preparing and spending that amount of funds [for two days] but at the same time, it’s not long enough for them to be able to regenerate and get those profits back,” Reyes said.
She added that a three-day event would work but that a four-day event was “too much for our community.”
Johnny’s Bar owner Peter Lago said it was the same situation for vendors in that it was difficult for them to recuperate the costs they incur on products, permit fees and staging.
“There’s not one rally in the United States that’s only two days that is successful,” he said.
Hill’s Bookstore owner Adam Hill, however, said he could not make a suggestion on whether to extend the rally without first considering the overall cost and revenue to the city.
The city has not disclosed the cost and revenue report for this year’s two-day rally. In 2025, it reported a $200,000 cost overrun compared to the revenue. However, that bill would have been nearly $450,000 had the city not included a $250,000 donation by Amazon in the revenue line as “savings.”
Bill’s Bullpen owner Bill Mifsud said he was not against the rally, but asked that the city work with business owners on logistics to minimize the event’s impact. Photo by Noe Magaña.
Lago said that business owners should consider renting their space to the vendors as another revenue source.
In doing so, he said, it creates a domino effect of benefits, including vendors realizing savings on staging, and it reduces the amount of tents and generators out on the street blocking storefronts. That, he continued, would improve the flow of traffic and the streets would become more accessible for emergency service vehicles.
“All you have to do is go to any existing successful rally and look at how they’re running it,” he said. He went on to say vendors use the existing storefronts in most of the rallies.
As for adding a family-oriented activity at the rally, commissioners said it could attract a different demographic that might not otherwise attend.
Among the family-friendly ideas discussed that could be incorporated were entertainment on the side streets and a car show.
Reyes said the city could partner with members of the Chamber of Commerce for entertainment options such as face painting and bounce houses.
“I really think expanding and really making it family-friendly is where we’re going to get people to come,” Reyes said.
Hapa Bros mobile catering co-owner Steven Ricketts said entertainment has to be focused on a particular group of people, whether it’s trying to attract more bikers to participate in the rally or bring in more residents and visitors.
“One example would be if you had a headliner music group that the cyclists were all really into, that would probably really get their attention and bring a lot more of them in,” Ricketts said. “You could market the heck out of that.”
The city estimates that the attendance for this year’s two-day rally was 20,000. It was a drop from the estimated 26,600 people that attended the rally in 2025, the first one after a seven-year hiatus.
In terms of marketing, Rosa said “we dropped the ball” and that when he walked the rally on both days the side streets were “completely dead.”
Rosa and Reyes, said while they were selling fireworks at their booths ahead of the holiday weekend, it was common to get questions from customers about whether the rally was going to take place.
“To me that was what kind of threw me off because I was like, ‘It’s happening as we speak,’” Rosa said.
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