There are many adjectives to describe the Culver City Music Festival that come to mind: festive, energetic, popular.

Add “resilient” to the list as well, because despite previous political opposition, an effort to have the music series run by the Redevelopment Agency and the ongoing economic recession, fans of the concerts will still be able to enjoy them beginning Thursday, July 8.

Now in its 16th year, the free event has been shortened from 13 Thursday evening dates to eight, but that does not mean the quality of the music will dissipate, says Gary Mandell, the concert series’ producer. “Not at all,” Mandell, the owner of Boulevard Music on Sepulveda Boulevard, told the News a few days before the first concert. “We have a number of good performers on this year’s lineup, as we have in the past, and we’ve tried to bring in quality performers again this year, many who have name recognition.”

The summertime music venue kicks off with the Dean Mora Orchestra and the Lindy Sisters, a classic big band that plays sounds reminiscent of the 1930s and 40s.

One of the hallmarks of the music festival has been its artistic diversity. One week, attendees might see a Brazilian samba band, the next week a blues quartet and in later weeks a group that plays zydeco music.

“That’s one of the reasons why I think it’s been so popular, because of its diversity. Also, it’s free,” Mandell quipped.

In winning the city contract for the music series, Mandell often faced challenges from the city council despite testimony from many of the city’s citizens that the producer had made the festival a success ever since he began producing it. Former Culver City Mayor Alan Corlin was one of Mandell’s most vocal backers during his time on the city council. “I thought that Gary did a wonderful job with the music festival,” said Corlin. “I thought most of the bids were at best nondescript.”

The redevelopment agency sought on several occasions to produce the concert series instead of hiring an outside contractor. Staff members from the city department submitted reports to the council that often suggested that the concerts could be produced at a lower fee than what Mandell and others were requesting. Corlin was never convinced that the city’s staff could do as good or a better job than Mandell.

“There was no one in house that could do what Gary did,” he said. “One of the best barometers for success is I would ask people to get downtown early in order to get a good seat and by the time they would get there they often had to look for a good place to hear the music.”

Former City Councilman Steven Rose always considered the event to be an economic development tool and he felt “it was important to get some economic development out of the series,” according to redevelopment agency minutes from 2005. Other critics claim there is no tangible way to determine whether or not the concerts attract people to the downtown restaurants.

But proponents of the Culver City Car Show, which has also in the past been financed through the agency and is held in downtown Culver City as well, claim that it brings economic benefits to the city.

In an interview last year, Rose acknowledged that there is no precise manner to accurately determine how to gauge the financial success of the car show.

“Even if you talked to all of the restaurants downtown the day of the car show, you might not get an accurate measure” on whether those who attend the event have dined in substantial numbers at Culver City eateries, he admitted.

“Economics are not a precise science,” Rose added. “It’s very subjective; if you’re a supporter of the car show, you would probably say that it is an economic success.”

Two Culver City residents, Liz Kinnon and Richard Mitchell, addressed the council at one meeting from the perspective of professional musicians on the importance of keeping the concerts in Mandell’s hands. “We urge the City Council to renew Gary Mandell’s contract to produce the summer concert series. He has proven himself as a producer, bringing Culver City professional, varied and top-notch entertainment for several years,” they wrote in a letter to the city’s governing body. “The audiences seem to grow year after year and we have observed overflowing crowds enjoying the weekly entertainment in a wonderful environment.”

Mandell said he was never deterred during the years that his ability to produce the music series was being challenged. “I always felt that we were on the right track,” he said.

Corlin said it is difficult to apply a quantitative standard to a cultural event like the music series. “We celebrate ourselves as being a small town, and this is a small town event,” he asserted. “It provides a boost to downtown in the fact that people are already blocks from the downtown area when they attend the concerts.”

According to Mandell, he understands why there was some political opposition. “I think (those who were in favor of hiring other producers) thought what they were doing was right, but there are people in city government that don’t really understand what it takes to produce a music series and attract good talent,” he said.

The popularity of the music venue is now such that Mandell says he no longer has to try to sell the public on the intrinsic value of the concerts. “I used to have to tell bad jokes for crowd control,” he said with a laugh. “But now I don’t have to do that anymore.”

The music series concludes Aug. 26.