The Downtown Council, who sponsor and produce Oktoberfest, one of our sister events at Crown Center have announced that the annual autumn German celebration will be "on hiatus" for 2009, citing a dearth of sponsorship dollars. The downtown council will instead focus their efforts on expanding the Rhythm & Ribs Festival.
It's sobering news for all of us in this business. In tough economic times, it ain't easy going to the business community and asking for money for events like ours. Irish Fest has been blessed with fantastic sponsors over the years and hopefully will continue to enjoy those relationships for many years to come. Please patron them whenever possible and when you do, thank them for their part in the celebration of Celtic Pride in Cowtown.
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2 comments:
No sponsor dollars? How about nobody shows up. How about their beer sales are too minimal to care about due to the very small crowds . How about the fact that they do not offer anything to speak of for the children. Sticking to your heritage is important... how do racing pigs fit with a proud German Heritage? That I did not understand. Is pig racing with a hillbilly announcers common in Germany? How about the cross cultural appeal of German umpa music, I've yet to see any act at Oktoberfest that gets a shoulder to shoulder crowd singing along like the Elders, Poggy or the Saw Doctors draw. Concert halls all over the nation are booking Eileen Ivers and selling out. You do not see that sort of appeal to see some fellers in leather shorts playing tubas.
Sponsor dollars will be hard to come by, but good grief what do you expect when you do not have a product that is worth putting your name on.
2009 Hiatus... I bet not. We can add that to the list of failed events. My heart goes out to the volunteers that really tried.
I would rather have a slab of ribs than a brat anyway.....
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