Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Summerfest Grounds to Consider All Season Venue

Summerfest attendance was up just a bit from 2008. This comes about during a tough economic time for all festivals. Summerfest will not release actual revenue figures, but they say that revenue increased by just under three percent.

Don Smiley had big shoes to fill when Bo Black departed. His biggest challenge was to keep the turnstiles churning, and he did just that. Smiley credits this uptick to the talented performers that he brought to Milwaukee this year.

There is now talk of a year-round venue that should be built on the festival grounds. What will they do with the Marcus Amphitheater? Perhaps they could enclose that venue, or renovate it.
I will say that the Summerfest grounds are vast. If they were to make a year-round venue there, it should be on the north end of the grounds. People of Milwaukee need that visual enticement. Will this enclosed venue have to compete with venues like the Bradley Center?

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