Event planners who work at the city level will often plan a single or series of community festivals throughout the summer for residents and visitors to a city.
In Chicago, the Mayor's Office of Special Events plans a 10-day long food festival, scheduled around the Fourth of July holiday. It began in 1980 as a single day event and driven by the business community and drew a surprising attendance of 275,000. Since then, city government special event planners have grown the festival into an event attended by more than 3.5 million people.
Proceeds from the Taste now pays for the majority of expenses for free neighborhood festivals throughout Chicago.