Troy Moon reported the death of Springfest in the daily newspaper today. This comes as no surprise considering the 2006 event was cancelled and no word has been mentioned about it in the past six months.
Why? The event lost money four years straight – under three different managers -Emerald Coast Classic group, SMG/Pensacola Civic Center and Captn Fun’s. The 2005 crowds were decent – 46K, and the PNJ was its major medium sponsoer – but it still lost over $100K.
The truth is events like Springfest need to be underwritten by major sponsors. Our larger employers are city and county government- followed by the school systems, universities and hospitals. Our once large employers are mere shells of what they once were – Solutia, International Paper, GE, Armstrong, BellSouth. The banks are branches of larger systems.
The lack of sponsors is why we lost the Blue Angel Classic golf tournament, too.
Our two-trick pony economy of military and tourism is killing our chances for big events like Springfest and Blue Angel Classic. Instead, we get the Pensacola Interstate Fair….teeth and shoes optional.
