Key West’s Sunset Celebration has hit tough times during COVID-19. Will this help?

Sunset Celebration, the nightly event in Key West built around the island’s spectacular sunsets, says it’s hurting financially due in part to the pandemic.

Now, the city has stepped in to help the nonprofit behind the decades-old event by cutting the rent at Mallory Square.

The Key West City Commission on Tuesday, without discussion, reduced the nonprofit’s rent from $200 per night to $500 per month for the next six months.

For the city, it’s a loss of $5,583 per month in revenue, or $33,500 for six months.

Sunset Celebration is best known for its performers and craft sellers. You might see jugglers and in past years trained cats jumping through hoops. The star of the show, of course, is the sun sinking into the water.

“There is a need to revitalize this monumental event,” wrote Assistant City Manager Patti McLauchlin in a memo to the commission.

The nonprofit Key West Cultural Preservation Society, created in 1984, says it costs $12,000 a month to operate the nightly festival, with about half that cost having gone to the city.

“We are dangerously close to being out of money,” wrote the nonprofit’s board of directors in a letter to the city Aug. 27.

“We’re definitely feeling it down at Mallory,” said Michael Cureton, known as Tie-Dye Mike for his custom-made wares. “We’re just losing way too much money every night.”

Vendors and performers have been slow to return since the event returned after the Key West shutdown in response to the pandemic’s start, McLauchlin said.

For $20 a night, an artist or performer can set up starting two hours before sunset.

“It is a financial gamble to participate in the event,” McLauchlin wrote. “Once they pay for the nightly fees and parking, they end up losing money on the festival.”

The city also will hand out eight parking permits to performers to help them cut costs, plus add large signs near Mallory Square to promote the event.

Linda McCall, who sells personalized name shells, started at Sunset eight years ago. She said the festival has been shrinking over the years when it comes to vendors and performers.

“It’s gotten much smaller,” McCall said. “It comes down to the high cost of housing. If you want to make a living, it’s really hard to do it as an artist.”

COVID-19 has only made things worse, she said.

The city shut down Mallory Square in March due to the pandemic, canceling Sunset Celebration for 11 weeks. March was high season for Sunset Celebration, McCall said.

“We lost a lot of revenue this year,” McCall said. “A lot of us were really struggling.”

Elise Parsons, who makes fused glass pendants, is a 12-year veteran of Sunset Celebration. She counted about 14 vendors set up on a recent Thursday evening.

“We’re really resilient,” Parsons said of the people who work at Mallory.

“We’re probably a little more than half tonight,” Parsons said. “I remember the days when I first got here we were almost full. And I think we had 60 spots. Full like I was worried I’d be sent home because I was the new person. We’d have 50 plus.”

Ryan Stimers, who makes wire art, has traveled the world to sell in different markets. But he chose to call Key West home.

Times are rough at Mallory, he said.

“At this point there’s not a lot of money to give to the city,” Stimers said. “We need to get to next year to get going again. I can’t imagine Key West without Sunset Celebration. I think a lot of people feel that way. We’re working very hard to keep this place together.”

And Sunset Celebration is looking for vendors who make their own wares.

“We are happy and eager to bring in new artists to work down here,” Stimers said. “We have openings. We want to help you and we want to work with you.”