The final tally was $62,962; the goal was $62,500.
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“It was a good, solid summer. Everything went as planned,” said Tim Rowe, arts council executive director.
Prince tribute band The Purple Experience made its festival debut as the top draw of 2017, with an estimated 10,500 people attending, followed by Journey tribute Resurrection in its second outing at 10,000 people.
Rounding out the top five draws were Grateful Dead tribute Dark Star Orchestra with 8,500 people, Chicago tribute Brass Transit with 7,500 and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, the only band in the top five with original members, at 6,000 people.
Rowe said while one of the biggest criticisms organizers receive is there are too many tribute acts, he points to the numbers as proof of their drawing power.
“People like to hear songs they know from artists they’ve heard of,” he said.
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Since the festival doesn’t charge admission, it still costs $400,000 to $450,000 to produce. About $165,000 goes for the acts, including the On the Terrace acts that precede the main shows.
“When you tack on recognizable name acts, the price goes up, but we’re always on the lookout for the best acts we can afford,” Rowe said.
He pointed to new addition Masters of Soul as a nice surprise find the audience enjoyed.
Aside from the pass-the-hat donations and concession sales, the festival is offset by funds raised by the Springfield Arts Council’s annual campaign, auction, wine tasting event, sponsorships, raffle tickets, an Ohio Arts Council grant, sponsorships and local foundations’ contributions.
After bad weather plagued much of the 2015 season, 2017 was the second consecutive year with mostly good weather.
An entire performance of the Broadway in the Park production of “Monty Python’s Spamalot” was lost, while The Parrots of the Caribbean was partially rained out, as was as all but 20 minutes of the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons tribute Let’s Hang On.
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Rowe attributed a lot of this season’s success to volunteers and staff. The festival relies on 16 to 20 paid staff members and hundreds of volunteers.
“We always depend on our volunteers, board members and staff to be the cohesive part of this event,” Rowe said. “We’re fortunate to have repeat volunteers and a staff that has been through three years of the festival and have running it down to a science.”
While the festival ends in mid-July, running it is a year-round operation for the staff, in addition to its Showstoppers Great Entertainment Series, Youth Arts Ambassadors and other programs.
Rowe is spending part of this month already looking at acts to book in 2018.
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