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Hollister officials estimate the two-day 2026 Hollister Independence Rally attracted about 20,000 visitors and cost the city $250,000 for public safety and $96,000 in insurance, plus about $40,000 in promoter fees.
The city provided the rally attendance and cost figures in a July 8 news release, but declined to provide additional information or answer BenitoLink’s questions about the event, saying it expects final figures to be available in August.
“My only criticism of the rally is that it was only two days,” City Manager Ana Cortez said in the release.
Administrative Analyst Leah Calderon did not answer BenitoLink’s questions about how the city arrived at its estimate and whether the numbers included counting people who attended both days of the rally twice. Instead, she said on July 14 that the information would be included in a news release set to be published “soon.”
The city has not published new information as of publication.
With the return of the rally last year after a seven-year hiatus, officials said they expected the event to grow year to year. However, this year’s attendance was less than the 26,600 reported last year, which included an estimated 12,400 people on July 4 and 14,100 on July 5. The numbers include duplicated people as the software used by Hollister Downtown Association that tracks cellphone location data restarts every 24 hours.
Hollister Downtown Association CEO Omar Rosa declined to comment on the attendance and directed BenitoLink to the city.
Another goal city officials have expressed is a cost-neutral event. Promoter and consultant Roadshows, Inc. is required to provide the city with a comprehensive revenue report by Aug. 18.
Last year, BenitoLink requested the required promoter reports, but the city said it did not have such information. Instead, the city provided the information about the rally’s revenue and expenses in its own report.
The cost of the event has been an issue that has been brought up by critics of the motorcycle rally.
City officials acknowledged the 2025 rally translated into a $200,000 bill for taxpayers because it cost more than it produced in city revenue. However, that bill would have been nearly $450,000 had the city not included a $250,000 donation by Amazon in the revenue line as “savings.”
The Hollister City Council budgeted $648,250 for this year’s rally. During the 2026-2027 budget hearings, a fund report balance showed the 4th of July Rally fund was in the red by $415,112.
Cost estimates released by the city are in addition to the base cost for Roadshows services at $40,000, and that means the total expense for the rally so far is $386,000.
By comparison, the city reported spending $415,000 on security, staff time and Roadshow’s services for the 2025 rally. In total, the city reported $654,928 in expenses and $457,896 in revenue last year.
Despite the city claiming the $250,000 Amazon donation as “savings” revenue for the rally, that money was used for the Pauline Valdivia Memorial Community Center bathroom renovations.
While this year’s release refers to the city’s top priority as public safety, Hollister Police Chief Carlso Reynoso has regularly expressed concern about the lack of adequate law enforcement and event security at the rally.
While there were no serious incidents reported at the 2026 rally, police reported two arrests on the second day of this year’s rally.
In the release, the city also references a potential change in promoter, stating it will release a request for proposals for the 2027 rally later this summer.
“The rally continues to be an important opportunity to celebrate Hollister’s heritage while supporting local businesses and promoting economic activity throughout the community,” the release states.
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