The City of Malibu’s annual “Easter Hoppening” event on March 30 was successful — perhaps a little too successful. The event drew a record crowd of more than 1,500 people to Malibu Bluffs Park on the Saturday before Easter. As a result of the overwhelming turnout, a staff report for Tuesday’s meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission revealed that staff is looking to downsize the event next year after attendance “exceeded expectations.” It also appears some of the attendees were not from Malibu.
“Due to the large number of people attending the event, staff is considering options for scaling down the event for 2014 in order to maintain a manageable size and to make the event more resident based,” the staff report states.
Bob Stallings, the head of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, said attendance for the event increased incrementally over the last few years before an explosion in attendance this past month.
“Due to the facility restrictions and increase in attendance, staff feels the sudden growth has impacted the quality of the event,” Stallings wrote in an email Monday to The Malibu Times. “The primary purpose of the event is to provide a family-oriented recreational opportunity for the Malibu community.”
The event featured egg hunts for children as well as adults, in addition to face painting, arts and crafts, “bounce houses” and food trucks.
One parent complained of the congestion on the field at Bluffs Park prior to the children’s Easter egg hunt in a letter to The Malibu Times after the event.
“When it was time to ‘go,’ so many adults screamed and stormed the lawn that it was pure chaos,” wrote Katrina Strachowski. “It seemed very pushy and almost as if people were fighting over who can grab the most eggs. There were so many adults that should not have been allowed on that field.”
Stallings wrote that one way staff was pondering scheduling changes to tailor the event to locals.
“To keep Easter Hoppening a community event, consideration is being given to moving the event to a weekday as opposed to the Saturday before Easter,” Stallings wrote.
The Parks and Recreation Commission meets Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the multi-purpose room at Malibu City Hall.
Do you think the “Easter Hoppening” has gotten too crowded? Should it be limited to Malibu residents? Let us know in the comments section.
Associate Editor Knowles Adkisson can be reached at knowles@malibutimes.com or 310-456-5507 ext. 109.