The KU Powwow and Cultural Arts Festival, Free State Festival and Paper Plains Zine Fest are among 32 events set to receive funding from the City of Lawrence this year.
The city’s Unmistakable Events grant program is funded through the transient guest tax, a special sales tax that applies to hotel stays.
The city previously had a TGT advisory board that made recommendations on how to spend the annual funds, but it was disbanded last year. In its place, an ad hoc committee of volunteers reviewed and scored applications.
The Lawrence City Commission approved these funds during their Tuesday meeting as part of their consent agenda, a list of items that are considered routine and often approved with one motion without discussion.
The city received 41 applications seeking $414,088 in funding. Here are the events that will get a piece of the $150,000 budget, as well as their total score from rubrics the group used to evaluate events:
| Rank | 2025 Event | Funding Request | Funded Amount | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KU Powwow & Cultural Arts Festival | $10,000 | $8,000 | 565 |
| 2 | Free State Festival 2025 | $15,000 | $12,000 | 540 |
| 3 | Lawrence Busker Festival | $15,000 | $11,250 | 530.5 |
| 4 | 2025 Juneteenth Celebration | $15,000 | $11,250 | 512.5 |
| 5 | Lawrence Old-Fashioned Christmas Parade | $15,000 | $9,000 | 478 |
| 6 | Paper Plains Zine Fest | $8,000 | $4,800 | 477 |
| 7 | Theatre Lawrence Annual Holiday Show | $15,000 | $9,000 | 469 |
| 8 | LAAND | $12,000 | $7,200 | 463 |
| 9 | Lawrence Comedy Festival | $15,000 | $9,000 | 458 |
| 10 | Art Tougeau Art Car Parade with Low Rider-Ganza! | $8,350 | $5,010 | 457 |
| 11 | Lawrence Art Guild Art in the Park | $10,000 | $6,000 | 455.5 |
| 12 | MixMaster2025 | $10,000 | $4,000 | 449 |
| 13 | The Avocado Tree LLC / El Arbol de Aguacate | $15,000 | $6,000 | 437 |
| 14 | The Nutcracker, A Kansas Ballet | $10,000 | $4,000 | 436 |
| 15 | Lawrence Pride Park Party | $10,000 | $4,000 | 433 |
| 16 | St. John the Evangelist Church Mexican Fiesta 2025 | $10,000 | $4,000 | 429 |
| 17 | Kaw River Roots Festival 2025 | $10,000 | $4,000 | 422 |
| 18 | Lawrence Restaurant Week | $15,000 | $6,000 | 413 |
| 19 | Live on Mass | $15,000 | $6,000 | 410 |
| 20 | 44th Annual Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships AKA FidPick | $7,500 | $3,000 | 401 |
| 21 | Second Annual Downtown Lawrence Music Crawl | $6,445 | $2,578 | 401 |
| 22 | Lawrence Mardi Gras Parade | $7,168 | $1,218 | 396 |
| 23 | runLawrence Thanksgiving Day 5K Run | $9,580 | $1,628 | 388 |
| 24 | 2025 Central States District of the Barbershop Harmony Society Fall Convention | $7,000 | $1,190 | 382.5 |
| 25 | 4th Annual Great Plains Art & Music Festival | $15,000 | $2,250 | 380 |
| 26 | Haunting Humanities | $5,000 | $1,000 | 361 |
| 27 | Lawrence Pride: Queer Prom | $2,000 | $1,000 | 348 |
| 28 | Lawrence Opera Theatre Season 16: “Gianni Schicchi”/”Pagliacci” | $6,875 | $1,026 | 337 |
| 29 | Park(ing) Day | $8,300 | $1,100 | 328 |
| 30 | The Fond Dinner Series | $4,000 | $1,000 | 328 |
| 31 | Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Spring Festival | $4,000 | $1,000 | 324 |
| 32 | Society for the Preservation of Natural Historic Collections Annual Meeting (SPNHC) | $10,000 | $1,500 | 302 |
The following events were not recommended for funding:
| Rank | 2025 Event | Funding Request | Funded Amount | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Lawrence Lights: Making Spirits Bright | $10,000 | $0 | 281 |
| 34 | Memorial Day Takeover | $12,000 | $0 | 281 |
| 35 | National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championships – Heartland Regional | $15,000 | $0 | 280 |
| 36 | KU Sip & Shop | $3,500 | $0 | 275.5 |
| 37 | 30 Plays in 60 Minutes | $9,400 | $0 | 274.5 |
| 38 | Alliance of National Heritage Areas Meeting – Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area | $14,970 | $0 | 273 |
| 39 | National Christian Homeschool Volleyball Championships | $15,000 | $0 | 267 |
| 40 | Lawrence Pickle Fest – A Big Dill | $5,000 | $0 | 262 |
| 41 | 2025 Lawrence Veterans Day Parade | $3,000 | $0 | 228 |
The group of volunteers included Lisa Hallberg, chair of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board; Tim Metz, Cultural Arts Commission member; Liza McKinnon, a local artist; Fally Afani, a local artist and event organizer; Allison Calvin, director of marketing and communications for eXplore Lawrence; Joey Pauda, event organizer and former TGT Advisory Board member; and Heidi Champagne, general manager of Springhill Suites, according to the agenda item.
See the complete agenda item at this link.
The city also funds a Community Arts Grant program with TGT funds. Applications for grants are open until Feb. 3.
Learn more about that on the city’s website at lawrenceks.org/lprd/art-grants.
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