Upland Lemon Festival Continues to Grow
As City Considers New Five-Year Agreement
One of Upland’s most recognized community traditions may soon continue for another five years as the City Council considers approval of a new agreement with Soundskilz Inc. to continue producing and managing the Upland Lemon Festival through 2031. The proposed agreement reflects both the continued growth of the festival and the City’s commitment to maintaining a high quality community event that supports local businesses, brings visitors to Downtown Upland, and celebrates the city’s rich citrus history.
The Lemon Festival first began in 1997 as a family friendly community celebration honoring Upland’s citrus heritage. Over the years, it has evolved into one of the Inland Empire’s largest community festivals, drawing tens of thousands of visitors annually to Historic Downtown Upland. However, like many major events across the country, the festival faced significant challenges during the COVID 19 pandemic. The event was cancelled in 2020, and in 2021 the previous operator chose not to return, leaving the future of the festival uncertain.
At that time, the City faced an important decision regarding the future of the event. City leadership could either pause the festival indefinitely, scale it back significantly, or rebuild it with a new management team. In 2022, the City selected Soundskilz to take over the event under a very compressed timeline. According to the staff report, Soundskilz successfully rebuilt the festival while coordinating vendors, sponsors, entertainment, public safety logistics, and City operations in less than 90 days.
Since then, the Lemon Festival has continued to improve each year. The report highlights improvements in crowd flow, vendor coordination, public safety planning, event logistics, programming, and marketing outreach. Additional promotional efforts have expanded the festival’s visibility throughout the region while also increasing support for local businesses in Downtown Upland.
The report also notes that Soundskilz introduced several improvements beyond the original contract scope, including expanded digital marketing campaigns, television promotion, enhanced sponsorship coordination, and additional entertainment programming designed to increase visitor engagement and encourage longer visits in Downtown Upland.
A 2025 economic impact analysis conducted by Kosmont Companies found that approximately 97,800 visitors attended the 2025 Lemon Festival. The report states that many downtown businesses experienced positive impacts from the event, with approximately 40 percent of businesses reporting they gained new customers during the festival who later returned. Additionally, nearly half of attendees surveyed reported that attending the Lemon Festival improved their impression of Downtown Upland.
City staff describe the Lemon Festival as more than just a weekend event. The report identifies the festival as an important economic driver and community identity event that helps showcase Upland to visitors from throughout Southern California.
The report also acknowledges that large scale events naturally create operational challenges, including traffic, parking, crowd management, and post event cleanup. The proposed agreement includes clearer expectations regarding cleanup responsibilities, trash removal, power washing, and restoration of the downtown event footprint after the festival concludes each year.
Under the proposed agreement, Soundskilz would continue assuming most of the financial responsibility and operational risk associated with producing the festival. The City would continue providing public safety and emergency support services. The agreement would also provide the City with a guaranteed minimum annual payment of $50,000, with additional net revenue shared between the City and the event operator.
Disclaimer: The Upland Update is an independent community resource and is not affiliated with the City of Upland. This is my personal initiative to keep residents and businesses informed about key issues, city developments, and community events that impact our daily lives. My goal is to ensure you have clear, transparent, and timely information to stay engaged and involved in shaping Upland’s future.
James Breitling
(909) 342-2523
info@theuplandupdate.com
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