Explore Lompoc Provides Grant for Open Streets Event

OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE – JUNE 8, 2017

Explore Lompoc Provides Grant for new Lompoc Open Streets Event

Residents and visitors will be taking it to the streets at the first Lompoc Open Streets Event slated for Friday, July 21, 2017, from 4 to 8 pm, thanks in part to a generous $11,100 grant provided by Explore Lompoc to the Lompoc Valley Community Healthcare Organization (LVCHO) for marketing expenses, premium giveaways, and special on-site activities.

“We are excited to support this new venture, while fostering greater awareness of Lompoc as a destination for outdoor recreation and summertime fun,” said Paul Patel, Board President of Visit Lompoc, LLC (dba Explore Lompoc).

In this “no cars allowed” event, attendees are encouraged to walk, cycle, skate or scooter to all the activities taking place on Ocean Avenue from C Street to N Street, and on H Street from Ocean to Walnut. The Open Streets activities will include a BMX Show with Team Soil, a Mini Bike Rodeo, bike club rides, and a kids drag race. It will be held in conjunction with Lompoc’s Friday night Old Town Market, which features a farmers market, live entertainment, food vendors, community booths and family fun.

“The Open Streets concept is an increasingly popular movement across the globe, and we’re excited to bring it to Lompoc,” says Emily Casarez, Community Health Program Manager for LVCHO.” It will allow the local community and visitors to connect with the downtown area in a uniquely fun and active way.”

In addition to Open Streets, Explore Lompoc recently awarded four other grants for the following programs and promotions: Aids Lifecycle Welcome Banners to greet cyclists staying overnight in Lompoc during their seven-day fundraising ride; the 33^rd annual West Coast Cub Fly-In at Lompoc Airport, one the nation’s top fly-in events for historic aircraft; the Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau’s 2017 Annual Awards Banquet; and several programs for Vandenberg Space Force Base military personnel and their families organized by the Military Affairs Committee of the Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau, including the upcoming Fourth of July Concert in the Park and Kids Bike Parade.

With the goal of enhancing the local economy through tourism development, Explore Lompoc promotes Lompoc through a variety of marketing initiatives including print, cable and digital advertising, brochures, social media campaigns, destination photography and videos, community partnerships, press trips for travel writers, and its website, ExploreLompoc.com. Additionally, the program offers grant opportunities to for local events and programs that showcase Lompoc Valley as a preferred travel destination and generate overnight hotel stays in the city of Lompoc.