Kennedi Bates
Mrs. Straub
AP Economics
17 May 2015
Economy Heats Up for Summerfest
Yes, summer is almost here. We can feel the warm weather creeping in on us as we sit in our classrooms trying to focus. We can sense the excitement for not having any more homework. We can feel the tension as exams start approaching, making sure we get the best grade we can get in that difficult class. But as summer approaches, many of us are excited for one particular event in the middle of our amazing summer. Summerfest. The world’s largest music festival. The festival hosts over 800 bands with more than 900000 fans who come from all around the world. And we have the great advantage of this amazing event being located only 20 minutes away from us. Summerfest has a huge impact on not only Milwaukee’s economy but Wisconsin’s as well.
In the summer of 2013, Summerfest generated a whopping $187 million of positive economic impact for the CIty of Milwaukee and a $226 million for the state of Wisconsin. This one huge event helped the economy that much. This is not only a great time for consumers of the music festival but producers as well. A various amount of small businesses and other organizations promote and sell their products at this festival. Some examples include Henna tattoos, food (of course), and other shopping vendors. These small-scale producers must make sure they have enough supply to meet the high demand for their products. If they do this, they could potentially earn a positive economic profit for their small business during this fun event. The graph below shows how attendance has improved in the year of 2013, from the fall in 2012.
To make sure Summerfest improves and never gets “boring” to the point for profits start decreasing, the producers must keep bringing in new and different things to keep the public interested. Although it seems that Summerfest will do just fine, as you can tell by its huge economic impact, Ted Kellener, Chairman of Summerfest, believes we need to keep improving the event, year after year. He explains that “‘The success experienced in 2013 is a result of the hard work and visionary leadership of the Summerfest staff,’ said Kellner in a statement. ‘However, we understand that in order for the festival to continue to grow and evolve, we must continue to re-invest in our grounds and festival offerings to ensure future success.’” By doing this, their total cost might increase a small amount, but they should have no problem meeting that with an increase in sales as well. For more information about the improvement of summerfest and what the chairman thinks, read this interesting article.
Not only does Summerfest offer a variety of music ranging from country to rap, they make the tickets completely affordable too. Summerfest producers think of the economy when they develop a certain price for the admission and the headline tickets as well. For example in 2009, during the huge recession that killed our economy, they did not raise the ticket or beer prices. This is something they usually do every year, to keep a positive profit. But because they thought of what would be best for the economy and their consumers, they decided against it.
So yes, it’s almost that time of year when we throw our books up in the air and scream “Summer!” when the last bell rings. So if you are thinking about attending summerfest this year, I strongly encourage you to do so. It’s cheap, very fun and a perfect place to listen to your favorite bands/ artists. To see the full lineup for the 2015 Summerfest music groups, watch this video! This will not only benefit you, but the our economy as a whole! It will only help our economy grow more and more, making our state and our country, a better place to live overall.
Works Cited
"About | Milwaukee World Festival, Inc." About | Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015.
"Report Says Summerfest 2013 Had $227 Million Impact on Wisconsin."OnMilwaukee.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015.
"Summerfest Generated $187 Million in Positive Economic Impact."FOX6Nowcom. N.p., 05 Dec. 2013. Web. 17 May 2015.
Big events such as Summerfest can really impact a city or state economically. Summerfest does a great job with improving the economy because of the way their events are priced. Tickets to get into Summerfest are very cheap so that families of all incomes can enjoy the festivities and the event can make a profit on those individuals. The headline performances are often priced higher however so that higher income families can get special access to the main acts that they wish to see. This pricing strategy allows the event to profit from all income groups and makes the overall economic impact the largest.
ReplyDeleteI can totally see how Summerfest contributes to both the Milwaukee and Wisconsin economies. Bringing in a bunch of artists/bands to one location always draws a huge crowd. With that being said, people spend money in other locations in Milwaukee while in town for example hotels, and local restaurants. I've also noticed that a lot of people from other states travel to Milwaukee just for Summerfest so that would also contribute to economic success. It would be interesting to know just how many people travel and how much they are spending here! Great blog post, and of course relevant topic!
ReplyDeleteIt's cool to see the actual numbers that Summerfest brings to help the local economy. Its also impressive how many people find their way going every single year. Summerfest is awesome and I don't think this year will be any different. The atmosphere is unlike any other in Wisconsin and I can totally understand how in continues to grow. strong. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised at all to see the huge economic impact summer fest has on Milwaukee and the surrounding areas. Summer fest is one of the biggest music festivals and people will want to go there. I'm surprised summer fest doesn't raise the prices because in this area they are the biggest festival and even with raised prices people would still go.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see how summerfest contributes to not only the Milwaukee area, but the entire state as well with people coming from all around the nation to see their favorite artists, and eating foods from various vendors. With people coming from all around the nation to see their favorite artist they will need some place in the Milwaukee area, as well as surrounding areas to stay the night like hotels, or restaurants to eat all of which add to our economic success. It would be interesting to know just how many people travel and how much they are spending here! Great blog post, and of course relevant topic!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting and very believable that Summerfest impacts both the city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin. Local businesses heavily benefit from Summerfest, as people may stop to eat or shop on their way down there, as well as parking vendors who charge extremely high rates for parking spots. Buses definitely benefit from Summerfest as well because people would rather pay for a bus than deal with parking downtown. Similar to what Allison said, it would be interesting to see the impact out of state travelers have on Wisconsin's economy,Great job!
ReplyDeleteI really like how your article is so relevant to today since summer is almost here! I have never been to Summerfest but it sounds like it is something I should definitely go to this year. I wonder how much the food and ticket prices have gone up over the past few years. Summerfest really does draw in people from all over to Wisconsin and it significantly helps bring in a lot of money to local businesses. Since the tickets are so cheap, it will make a lot of people come and the profits will continue to grow. Great article!
ReplyDeleteNice topic Ken! I completely agree that people should be heading out to Summerfest to enjoy the summer while also helping our economy. As the world's largest music festival, it gathers people from around the country and even the world. So when people travel they are helping the economy of everywhere they stop on the way to the music festival. I know I will be spending my money there for sure and it's all worth the trade-off and other opportunity cost since I can enjoy a few nights with my friends while listening to some of our favorite music. Nice job on this piece!
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