Gloria’s arts cuts threaten more than museums — street fairs, parades and neighborhood fest are all on the line

San Diego would eliminating its arts and culture grant programs under Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget, a move saving $11.8 million amid efforts to close a $118 million deficit. 

Gloria’s proposal was met with outrage.

“Other cities aren’t cutting arts to this degree,” said Bob Lehman, executive director of San Diego ART Matters.  “The only budget in this country that cuts arts to this degree is the Trump budget.”

But while early reaction to the $11.8 million cut has focused on what it means for the arts, the second part of the eliminated grants — culture — will hit just as hard.

The cuts affect dozens of community events that relied on city money in their efforts to build neighborhood pride and combat loneliness.

“This city cannot rely on beaches, weather and beer alone to define our culture,” said Alex Villafuerte, leader of Pacific Arts Movement. 

His organization puts on one of North America’s largest Asian film festivals. The city cuts are just the latest piece of an increasingly harrowing funding landscape.

Last year, Pac Arts lost a National Endowment for the Arts grant from President Trump’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion. Corporate sponsors soon followed, pulling support to avoid affiliating with an organization associated with DEI. That has already led to layoffs and program cuts.

The San Diego Asian Film Festival gets about a quarter of its funding from the city in any given year, Villafuerte said. For fiscal year 2026, that was $48,301 from the Organization Support Program. 

It also often wins funding from the Community Projects, Programs, and Services grant program, to the tune of $10,500 this fiscal year. That $900,000 city program, which is not limited to arts and culture, gives city council offices an annual budget to support community initiatives. Gloria’s budget entirely eliminates the CPPS program.

Those changes compound with the city’s decision last year — adopted to avoid implementing painful cuts — to raise revenue by charging more for special event fees. 

“If both of those things are gone and then event fees are up, it’s a losing game at this point,” Villafuerte said. 

In 2025, the Creative Communities San Diego grants gave out $1.7 million toward specific arts and culture programs, not nonprofits generally.

Of the 70 recipients, the program supported large, well-established events like the OB Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off, Martin Luther King Jr. Parade and Big Bay Boom — but also small, free neighborhood events with fewer revenue options like the Rolando Street Fair, Pacific BeachFest, Juneteenth festivals and a Día de los Muertos celebration in Sherman Heights. 

“These organizations, large and small, exist in every district in the city,” said Alessandra Moctezuma, chair of the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture. “Nearly half of the programs they provide are free and community facing.” 

The loss of city support won’t lead to the immediate end of every street fair in town. But the events might start charging more for attendance, or look for other ways to boost revenue. It could also lead to layoffs or program cuts from the organizations that hold them.

San Diego Pride was the largest grant recipient in the Creative Communities program last year. The LGBTQ+ celebration occurs entirely on public land, including a parade through Hillcrest streets and a festival in Balboa Park. 

Those quickly rack up permitting fees. And the risk of anti-LGBTQ+ violence requires a large, pricey police presence and increased insurance costs.

It’s a costly ordeal to put on San Diego’s largest single-day civic event. The city’s $376,564 cash infusion helps make it happen.

Plus, the 250,000 parade attendees give a major economic boost to the region. San Diego Pride’s 2025 economic impact report estimates that the parade and festival generate almost $30 million in the region, according to Brock Cavett, Pride’s director of advocacy and programs. 

“Even one of my students could tell you that an investment that grows 100 times or 500 times is a good one,” Moctezuma said. 

The Pride organization says losing their city funding will make it harder to provide year-round programming and philanthropy.

“Funding from the grant helps offset the cost of the festival, so that the festival revenue we raise is able to support our year-round programming,” explained Cavett. “This loss would significantly undermine our financial stability and hinder our ability to fulfill our mission.”