Festivals Feel The Economic Pinch

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Feb 20th 2009 at 7:02PM

The latest fallout from the economy may be annual festivals. From food and wine to music and poetry, festivals bring tourism dollars to towns across the country. But as both individuals and companies spend less, festivals are struggling to survive. Reuters reports that the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation's biennial poetry festival has already been cancelled for 2010 and South Florida's Langerado Music Festival was canceled due to poor ticket sales.

Corporations are also limiting their sponsorships both to save money and appear less frivolous, a situation which also doomed the Moscow World Art Fair this year. Some budget-crunched cities may also not be able to offer festivals and parades discounted services. Festivals which cater to larger crowds are particularly difficult to manage. Just as some museums are finding they have more visitors but less money from donors, larger festivals may have plenty of local attendees but less financial backing. Some high-end wine festivals are still doing well. The South Beach wine and food festival still found enough takers for a $1,000-a-plate banquet celebrating Spanish food and wine.

Tags: festival, food, wine