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year for nearly all these groups and
that was part of what made it unique,”
Agostini said. “We're going to try to get
that back.”
Geitzen and Joy said the key is spon-
sorships from industry and businesses,
which they have increased by nearly
1,000 percent this year. The festival
hired Street Marketing through
Geitzen's JAG Entertainment and cred-
it the increase in sponsorships to that
effort.
Joy explained that the behind-the
scenes-expenses for the Fall Festival
are pretty steep. “We pay about $50-
$60,000 in expenses,” he said. “The fes-
tival pays for trash removal, police
overtime, which is costly, ambulance
services on standby the whole three
days, fire department staff, the
Department of Public Service staffing.
It's a big expense,” he said.
The fees are to be expected, he said,
when an event brings 75,000 people
downtown in a 2.2 squaremile city.
The committee is determined, how-
ever, to add to the sponsorships next
year and get more community groups
downtown with the midway concept.
They agreed that the carnival with the
rides is the attraction that provides the
most funding for the event.
“Without the carnival revenue, we
wouldn't have a festival,” Joy said.
“We just want to create something
else to bring more people downtown
and get more of the community
involved,” Agostini said. “It's got to be
about more than just raising themoney.
We want it to be about being part of the
festival, the interaction of the groups
and the community.”
The information booth will be open
during festival hours and groups can
pick up registration information for
next year.
“They can think about what they
want to put in the booth for awhile,”
Agostini said. “We'd like them to be cre-
ative.”
FALL FESTIVAL 2014
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Committee
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