SAN MARCOS — During a Chamber of Commerce presentation to the City Council, Rick Rungaitis, the chamber’s president and CEO, told the council that a plan to have high school marching bands participate in the Holly Jolly Market would be impractical because of space limitations at the site.
An announcement earlier this month indicated that, because there will be no holiday parade in San Marcos this year, the Chamber of Commerce had invited the marching bands from Mission Hills and San Marcos high schools to perform at its annual holiday market on Dec. 6 in North City.
The invitation came after band participants and their parents spoke to the council at two separate meetings, urging the city to sponsor a holiday parade and saying it was an annual highlight for band members.
During Monday’s chamber presentation, however, Rungaitis said he had reached out to Matt Armstrong, the San Marcos Unified School District’s visual and performing arts coordinator, to extend the invitation.
“He did a site visit, and it’s just not feasible,” Rungaitis said.
The combination of busy streets, nearby construction and a lack of parking made the site unsuitable for two marching bands. However, Armstrong suggested some of the district’s smaller jazz bands might work in that space, and the chamber is meeting with him later this week to continue the conversation.
The longtime sponsor of the San Marcos Holiday Parade, the Kiwanis Club of Lake San Marcos, informed the city last spring that it could no longer afford the increasing costs of putting on the parade.
