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I realize this is REALLY early but for those of you who attend Summerfest
you may find it interesting to see what they are doing with the schedule
this year. Seems to make a lot of sense but will be strange to have it
broken up......
Summerfest officials announced on Thursday a new 11-day schedule for next year that includes closing the festival on Monday, July 4.
Instead, the festival will open on Wednesday, June 29 - the festival normally opens on a Thursday - close for the holiday, and reopen July 5, running through Sunday, July 10.
Don Smiley, president and CEO of Milwaukee World Festival Inc., said in an interview that the change revolves around two issues: Mondays are normally slow business days, and the Fourth of July falls on a Monday.
"We are exchanging a Monday for a Wednesday," Smiley said. "It is two issues. It coincidentally happens the same day."
Smiley said that, historically, Summerfest has two "very challenging days of business" every year: the Monday of Summerfest and the Fourth of July.
On any given Monday, not unlike other restaurant, hospitality or entertainment business, business is slow, he said.
"Whether it's ticket sales, food sales, the ability to book bands, beer sales, parking, when you scrub those numbers, it becomes clear it is difficult to do business on a Monday," Smiley said. "That's not a new concept. Restaurants know it. It's not generally known as an entertainment day for the public. Wednesday is an entertainment day for the public."
Smiley said it was a misguided assumption that the Fourth of July is a big day for Summerfest.
"People think that, because it's a holiday, we do a lot of business," he said. "It's just the opposite. Families are in parks, the lakes, in their own communities. They are attending parades, going to fireworks."
Smiley provided a statistic that helps explain why Wednesdays are better than Mondays.
"Beer sales are 27% better on a Wednesday than a Monday," he said.
And that trickles down, economically speaking.
"On a Monday, we can do 40,000 people. If you have an amphitheater show, 15,000 of those 40,000 are in the amphitheater for a specific concert. That means 25,000 people are on the grounds. It's not enough versus a midweek day, which is 75,000 to 80,000-85,000, which is enough."
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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami
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