Unpermitted Vendors Put San Jose’s Christmas In The Park At Risk

By Annalise Freimarck, San Jose Spotlight:

Christmas in the Park is at risk of losing some of its magic this year due to unpermitted vendors crowding the streets and sidewalks—but the groups that host the downtown San Jose celebration aren’t ready to give up just yet.

Event organizers said unpermitted food vendors pack the streets every year at the annual winter holiday festivities, creating accessibility issues for families and preventing permitted vendors from selling their goods to park-goers.

Debbie Degutis, managing director of Christmas in the Park, said the problem has only gotten worse each year and has reached 40-plus unpermitted vendors. She said the city has refused to crack down on these vendors, citing issues with optics in years past.

“This has been a problem for a long time,” she told San José Spotlight. “But it’s gone unchecked in the city of San Jose.”

Degutis submitted a letter to the San Jose City Council earlier this week in an effort to get the city to enforce permit laws. In the letter, Degutis wrote the downtown festivities have lost Winter Wonderland’s vendor, Butler Amusements, and may lose significant revenue usually generated by the amusement park rides.

The Christmas in the Park nonprofit met with Councilmember Omar Torres, who represents the downtown area, last week to voice concerns.

Torres did not respond to a request for comment.

Butler Amusements has said it will not return this year if the vendor overcrowding doesn’t improve. Winter Wonderland, adjacent to the Christmas in the Park festivities on Paseo de San Antonio, has provided amusement park rides and games for 23 years.

Annie Hermes, owner of Messenger Events, the company that hosts Winter Wonderland, said if Butler Amusements doesn’t return, there is a high likelihood there will be no Winter Wonderland this year. She said if Butler Amusements drops out, Christmas in the Park will lose an estimated $55,000 in revenue.

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