Tucson preacher sues over Winterhaven Festival limits

Tucson residents who attend the Winterhaven Festival of Lights may see a legal challenge to the rules governing speech and advocacy at the popular midtown event. David Hoffman, a local street preacher, has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, arguing that festival policies prevented him from sharing his religious beliefs inside the event area and threatened him with arrest when he refused to stop or leave.

The dispute centers on Hoffman's activity during last year's festival. Wearing a glowing cross attached to his hip and carrying another cross, Hoffman spoke with visitors about Jesus inside the neighborhood display. According to the complaint, Tucson police officers approached him and told him he could not preach within the festival boundaries. When Hoffman questioned the policy, officers directed him to leave because he had discussed a prohibited message. During a later interaction, police allegedly told him he would be arrested if he did not leave or stop his religious speech.

Hoffman eventually moved to a designated free expression area outside the festival, near East Fort Lowell Road and North Christmas Avenue. His complaint says that location sharply reduced his ability to communicate with the people he wanted to reach. Inside Winterhaven, visitors were able to pause and look at the lights and decorations. Outside the event, Hoffman said, people were mostly moving through the area to reach their destinations, forcing him to call out to passing pedestrians rather than speak with festivalgoers at a relaxed pace.

The lawsuit argues that the restrictions violate Hoffman's rights under the First Amendment and the Arizona Constitution. It also claims the city's policies violate the due process protections of the Fourteenth Amendment. Hoffman is asking a federal judge to declare the policy unconstitutional and issue a permanent injunction preventing the city from enforcing it against his religious speech. He is also seeking nominal damages for the alleged constitutional violations and reimbursement of his legal expenses.

Winterhaven dates to 1949 and transforms a residential neighborhood into a large holiday attraction featuring elaborate decorations and illuminated homes. Because the festival takes place on public streets and draws visitors from throughout Tucson, the city must balance residents' enjoyment of the event with traffic, pedestrian access, safety and the rights of people who want to engage in public expression. The complaint contends that the city's approach did more than keep walkways clear, effectively moving Hoffman's message away from the people attending the festival.

Rules posted at the festival in 2025 prohibited political, religious and commercial materials or messaging within the event area, according to the complaint. The city's current policy statement, as described on the festival website in October, says people and groups seeking to display signs, distribute materials, solicit or advocate for social, cultural, political, religious or other ideological causes will be treated like everyone else. It allows expressive activity as long as participants do not block, impede or disrupt vehicles, pedestrian traffic or access to vendors.

The rules also prohibit people from setting up displays, posting signs or selling products unless they are official festival vendors. The city has not publicly addressed the allegations in detail because the case is pending. A spokesperson for the Tucson City Manager's Office said the city could not comment on the litigation.

Hoffman has spent about a decade evangelizing in public places across the United States. He operates Kingdom Enterprises, a Tucson nonprofit founded in 2015 and focused on outreach, evangelism and street preaching. The organization's stated mission is to affect the world through the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Videos posted on its YouTube channel show Hoffman preaching in public with large wooden crosses and, at times, a public address system. Some videos feature him at the University of Arizona, where he has invited students to debate him and sometimes provided an additional microphone.

Kingdom Enterprises reported $247,470 in contributions and grants during 2025, according to its nonprofit tax filing made available through ProPublica. The filing listed $175,158 in executive compensation, approximately 71% of the organization's revenue. The lawsuit now places Hoffman's Winterhaven experience within a broader debate over whether the festival's restrictions are reasonable limits on activity in a crowded public setting or an unconstitutional barrier to religious expression. The case will determine whether the city can continue directing such speakers to the designated area or must allow them to operate inside the festival under the same traffic and access rules applied to other visitors.