Nicole Stark
With the 2018 lineup for Summerfest recently being released, the music festival has been a growing topic of conversation. Every year the festival brings in hundreds of thousands of music fans. Additionally, Summerfest brings in hundreds of millions of dollars. This year, these numbers are expected to be even higher.
Summerfest takes place along the border of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, WI every summer for 11 days. The grounds are made up of 11 different stages which hold over 800 performances every year. The Summerfest grounds also consist of various food and beverage vendors as well as shops. To get into Summerfest, a ticket must be purchased. There are also alternative options like a Power Pass; a Power Pass allows admission to all 11 days of the festival. The majority of the shows that take place are free, but there are multiple headliners that perform in the amphitheater. The tickets to these shows cost money. The artists that perform on this stage are usually A-listers that are in very high demand, so the tickets can become quite pricey. Each of these costs contribute to the total amount of money that the entire 11 days of Summerfest rakes in. According to Wisconsin Public Radio, in 2017, Summerfest brought in around $200 million for the Milwaukee area. This makes it the biggest event in Wisconsin that is hosted every year. It is also the event that brings in the most amount of people from out of area. Additionally, WPR stated, “...hosting the U.S. Open earlier in June and the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament in March are important events but they don't have the same international draw. Those events brought in $130 million and $6 million, respectively” (Ross Terrel, WPR). So, out of all the different events held in Milwaukee, Summerfest brings in the most amount of money.
Not only does Summerfest bring in a substantial amount of money, it also brings in a massive amount of people. Year after year Summerfest promotes itself as, “The World’s Largest Music Festival.” This fact has even proven by the Guinness Book of World Records since 1999. Every year Summerfest brings in more and more people from all over the world. Because of its title, it attracts many and it grows every year. According to Milwaukee Business News, 804,116 people attended the festival in 2016. In 2017, attendance increased by 3.4% which increased the total attendance to 831,769 people. This year, attendance is expected to grow even more. The festival park also just recently went under renovations which is expected to bring in an even bigger crowd.
Summerfest will continue to bring in money to Milwaukee as well as people. Since Summerfest began, Milwaukee, WI has become a larger tourist attraction than ever before. As the “Largest Music Festival in the World” continues, so will the increase in money and tourism.
Works Cited
Anderson, Lauren. “Summerfest Attendance up 3.4 Percent in 2017.” BizTimes Media
Milwaukee, BizTimes Media Milwaukee, 13 July 2017,
www.biztimes.com/2017/industries/arts-entertainment-sports/summerfest-attendance-up-3-4-percent-in-2017/.
Glauber, Bill. “Klement's Links up with Summerfest for a 10-Year Sponsorship Deal.”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, 21 Mar. 2018,
www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2018/03/20/klements-links-up-summerfest-10-year-sponsorship-deal/441415002/.
“Summerfest Announces 100 Headlining Artists Playing Over 11 Days & On 12 Stages.” L4LM,
4 Apr. 2018, liveforlivemusic.com/news/summerfest-2018-lineup/.
“Summerfest, The World's Largest Music Festival.” Summerfest - The World's Largest Music
Festival, summerfest.com/.
Terrel, Ross. “Summerfest Expected To Generate $200M For Milwaukee.” Wisconsin Public
Radio, 28 June 2017, www.wpr.org/summerfest-expected-generate-200m-milwaukee.
I agree with your stance that Summerfest is super popular. It not only has a good selection of music but also has vendors with both items for sale and food for sale. This will bring in lots of profit for Summerfest as individuals are not only coming for the music, the food, the items sold but also for the experience. The whole event brings in many people not just from Wisconsin. It's obvious that Summerfest brings in lots of revenue and profit however how do they make even more? Are they thinking of ways to make summerfest even more popular?
ReplyDeleteI think it is crazy that Summerfest brings in so much revenue for the Milwaukee area year after year. It seems that it is a growing attraction that to most, will never get old. I think that if Summerfest would not have brought in such large profits over the years it would not have grown nowhere near is popular as it is today.
ReplyDeleteI can see how Summerfest continuously grows with each year. The amount of money the company is making can be credited towards the people who are booking artists. These people can successfully cater to crowds of all ages, thus resulting in the huge numbers of sales form tickets. If the percent increase from one year to another was 3.4%, I wonder how high this year’s will be after renovations. If the percentage increase is higher, Summerfest will be taking in an immense amount of money, making the company grow even more.
ReplyDeleteIt’s nice to know that Summerfest is becoming more popular as the years go on because as you stated, Summerfest has more people buying tickets because there are more varieties of musicians performing and in addition, all of the food that the consumers pay for during their trip to Summerfest. Since Summerfest allows higher level of musicians to perform, more tickets will be produced and the prices will increase to meet the supply in demand.
ReplyDeleteSummerfest is definitely takes a huge part in determining Wisconsin's GDP. A lot of people from other states also come into Milwaukee just for the festival, which makes me wonder how much money a bigger city could make if they tried to make a music festival as big as Summerfest. Summerfest is so popular because it is suitable for all ages and all genres of music. A lot of teens also view Summerfest as a necessity for their summer so they are willing to pay the $20 fee because they don't want to pay the opportunity cost of not being at Summerfest.
ReplyDeleteI agree that hands down Summerfest is the most popular event in Wisconsin. I was surprised that the attendance is expected to increase this year considering last year there were days you could barely walk around due to the crowds. It's amazing the revenue the music festival brings in for the city every year. Over the past years I have talked to many people at Summerfest coming from different states. At least it gives people a reason to come here because let's be honest, who wants to visit Wisconsin.
ReplyDeleteSummerfest is great for not only the city of Milwaukee, but the state of Wisconsin as well. With the overpriced artists performing or what seems like an unlimited supply of beer and chasers; what more could a Wisconsinite was for?
ReplyDeleteSummerfest is definitely one of the most popular events in Wisconsin and people from all over the US travel to take part in it. Though prices are high for merchandise and food, people still buy it because they're having a great time. If people weren't interested in the event they wouldn't buy anything, but it's worth their time so even though a burger may cost 10 dollars, it's definitely worth the experience.
ReplyDeleteI agree that summerfest is a key factor in Wisconsin's GDP, as, like you said, it brings in hundreds of thousands of people and profits millions of dollars each year. It's always interesting talking to people at Summerfest, especially those who come from out of state or even a different country. I think sometimes because we live so close to the grounds and have been to Summerfest many times, we don't always realize how massive of a festival it is. I think one of the reasons that allows Summerfest to be so successful is the fact that it is 11 days long, whereas other festivals like Lolla and Coachella are only a few days long, having the festival go longer makes it more accessible for everyone!
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to see that Summerfest is hands down one of these most populated events in the summer. It is interesting that the Wisconsin State Fair doesn’t bring in nearly as much as Summerfest considering how much money people spend on the food alone. With Summerfest being so popular, especially amongst the younger generation, it makes sense that it rakes in the millions upon millions. People my age are willing to pay the big money to see their favorite artists headlining the festival on top of the admission to get in for the rest of the days. It will be interesting how much money will be made off of this years event due to the popular headliners (The Weeknd, Halsey ect) along with how many people will buy the passes for all 11 days.
ReplyDeleteNicole: Summer Fest is very popular and you are right it does bring in a lot of revenue. A lot of the concerts are free and being able to walk from concert to concert when you please keeps bring people back. Big names also bring in a lot of money due to the tickets being really high and the demand to see them perform live being very high. Such as J Cole, UZI coming to summerfest this year they will bring in a lot of money from pure hype alone of seeing these highly looked at rappers live in concert close to home. Summerfest also bring many communities together as it gathers many people from a ton of different places from all around the state and neighboring states to come to watch some live music and have fun with friends and family. The amount of people and the total demand for all of the tickets like you said brings in a ton of money for the city which is needed.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this article because if you live in Wisconsin, you know about Summerfest. It is really cool to me how a city like Milwaukee can hold this massive event given that there are other surrounding cities, like Chicago, that could easily take over. I think it is easy to say that Summerfest adds to the popularity and amount of tourists in Milwaukee throughout the summer, and I think it would be interesting if you included what Milwaukee does with all the money that comes in from this event and how it has changed our city over the years. But, in terms of economics you are right that Summerfest is the biggest factor to Wisconsin’s GDP.
ReplyDeleteSummerfest is a classic Milwaukee summer necessity. Both of my parents tell me stories of their countless visits to Summerfest from times when they were near my age even. The music festival attracts many different music lovers of all ages which is why it is no surprise to me that this contributes a significant about to Wisconsin's overall GDP. With an increase in the variety of music being played each year, I believe that this festival will continue to grow significantly in popularity.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to read this article and realize how much money this music fest actually brings in. There are so many attractions in one area that this is just the perfect summer break you could say to go to a concert with your friends and get good food. I agree that summer fest will continue to grow since more and more recent name titles will be present at summer fest and they even bring in some older musicians to keep the crowd age differ. The aount of people and total demand for all these tickets brings in so much money and is exciting that this music fest is making Milwaukee a better-known tourist attraction.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how Summerfest is technically the worlds largest music festival, but it is rarely noted nationally. Coachella seems to be the much more relevant music festival, and maybe even Electric Forest. In addition, music festivals are, in my opinion, somewhat annoying. I would prefer just to go see an artist I like, and actually appreciate the music, rather than standing in a parking lot all night with drunk teenagers. But that's just me.
ReplyDelete