Jay Weber Show transcript 9-17-21 8:10am
What do you think of Summerfest’s move to turn it into a music festival that spans three weekends next year-instead of returning to the traditional eleven day run?
It doesn’t take a genius to understand why. Money. Don Smiley and the Summerfest board think that they an make more money and lure in more attendees if this is strictly a weekend event-strung over three weekends.
And maybe that will turn out to be the case. I assume they’ve done their market research.
I might be all wet-but- the move -still-destroys Summerfest, doesn’t it?
Doesn’t this move also take what was a unique, beloved, summer event that people loved and used as a fun escape-and turn it into exclusively a money-making event?
I mean-screw the families with young kids and the older adults who didn’t really like crowds.
Going thru the week or during the day is no longer an option for you-and if you aren’t going to drop a bunch of money-screw ya-
Fairly or unfairly, that is how this move hits me.
It reminds me of how Las Vegas changed. I used to go to Vegas twice a year, thru my 20s, 30s, and into my 40s, and then- the entire focus shifted. Casinos that were happy just to have your business, and happy to offer three- and 5-dollar tables and free drinks, or comp you a free dinner, turned mercenary.
At some point-they had such big crowds that they didn’t have to cater to their customers and could just jack up all the tables and end the comped means and-screw yah. We don’t need yah- if you aren’t going to gamble thousands of dollars here.
That’s when i stopped going. When Vegas became a bunch of businesses that didn’t really need your money and didn’t care if they turned you off.
This move to Summerfest weekends has that same vibe to me.And I wonder if it doesn’t fail and peter out...after a few years.
The reason i say that is- now it’s just a series of big-name concerts on weekends.
What is special about it? This is no longer an eleven day party for ‘all comers’ where everyone from families to the elderly can find something they like.
Its’ now: massive crowds on the weekends- focused almost exclusively on the night-time hours. That turns off an awful lot of people who considered themselves Summerfest goers.
And again-maybe I’m all wrong and this simply becomes ‘another way to do Summerfest and new traditions are formed around it for generations of Wisconsinites to come.
But it does not have that vibe to me.
Instead-it feels like a purely money-making venture that loses its cache and its romantic appeal...and fizzles out over time.
photo credit: Fox 6 News