Milwaukee\'s near-zero-waste music festival Rock the Green will accept a $25,000 Joint Effort Marketing grant from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism on Thursday morning in Veterans Park, the site of the festival. The grant will be used to advertise the Sept. 15 festival to neighboring markets, including Chicago, organizers say. <br /><br />“In its second year, Rock the Green is anticipated to draw several thousand attendees and generate an economic impact of $867,931 from traveler spending at area hotels, restaurants and stores,” organizers wrote in a press release.<br /><br />$867,931 is a head-turning sum for a one-day music festival headlined by Third Eye Blind. I asked festival spokesperson Lindsey Paulsen how they arrived at it.<br /><br />“The Wisconsin Department of Tourism worked with Rock the Green using formulas to arrive at the $897,931 impact number based on the per person/per day visitor expenditure amounts and ticket projections,” Paulsen said. “Because Rock the Green is a gated and ticketed event, the festival is able to track ticket sales to determine how many people are coming from out-of-state or are day-trippers.” She added that Rock the Green has created lodging packages with Visit Milwaukee and Marcus Hotels to accommodate out-of-towners.<br /><br />Shelly Allness, a program manager for the Department of Tourism who will present Rock the Green with its check Thursday morning, said the festival\'s environmental mindset aligns with the department\'s Travel Green Wisconsin initiative, which was designed “to promote a thriving tourism industry, but one that leaves a lighter footprint on the earth.” <br /><br />“One of the reason people come to our state is our beautiful outdoors and our natural earth, so we want to make sure we protect those,” Allness said. “Our state has so much to offer, so we\'re thrilled with Rock the Green, because it\'s such a good fit with the overall message we\'re trying to send, letting people know that they can have a great time in Wisconsin while being mindful of their environmental impact.”<br /><br />Rock the Green runs 2-9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15. Headliners will include Third Eye Blind, Metric, Switchfoot and Fever Marlene. For ticket information visit <a href=\"http://www.rockthegreen.com\">rockthegreen.com</a>.<br /><br /><br />
|
|
