HomeMy WebLinkAboutVailJazz Festival Final Review2010
Post Event Review – 2010 VAIL JAZZ FESTIVAL Event Date(s): June 27– September 6, 2010 Event Promoter: Vail Jazz Foundation Event Contact: Mia Vlaar (970) 479-6146 vjf@vailjazz.org Intro:
The mission of the Town of Vail Commission on Special Events (CSE) is to support street entertainment and special events for economic vitality, year-round fun, sense of community and
increased quality of experience for guests and residents. In 2010 the Vail Jazz Festival celebrated 16 years of a summer long celebration of jazz with free and ticketed concerts in and
around Vail. The festival began in 1994 with the inaugural ‘Vail Jazz Party’, enjoyed by 500 enthusiasts. The Festival has since grown to encompass ten weeks of the summer, with over
30 performances, three distinct venues, and over 35,000 visitors. The Festival includes: 1. Jazz at the Market. This ten week series of free concerts is a key component of the weekly
Vail Farmers’ Market from its partially tented home on Meadow Drive on consecutive Sundays. Local and and regional jazz favorites perform from noon to 3:00pm, providing entertainment,
ambiance, and great jazz for market goers. 2. Jazz at Vail Square. Having just completed its third year at Vail Square, this five week series takes place on the beautiful plaza outside
the Arrabelle Hotel in Lionshead in a tented venue. Visitation at this year’s series was up 20% over last year, and the performances received strong positive reviews from guests. 3.
The Vail Jazz Party, Labor Day Weekend. The traditional anchor and finale to the summer Vail Jazz Festival is the Vail Jazz Party, a celebration of jazz featuring five days and four
nights of exquisite jazz performances, bringing together up to 30 of the finest jazz musicians performing today. The event was held at the Vail Marriott and in Vail Square this summer
and was considered a resounding success, receiving ‘Excellent’ quality scores from over 93% of survey respondents. The Vail Jazz Festival is designed to make jazz accessible to everyone.
From our free concerts at the Farmers’ Market to our Jazz Party, the talent is chosen for the quality of their musicianship and their dedication to the jazz art form, and secondarily
for their entertainment value. We strive to provide a variety of jazz styles. From Latin to BeBop, from Swing to American Standards, the Vail Jazz Festival truly offers something for
each listener. Our schedule is designed to complement the other cultural mainstays of Vail’s summer – following on the heels of Bravo! and the Vail Dance Festival, the Jazz Festival
heats up in August and concludes during Labor Day weekend.
2 i. Overview – Event Strengths and Weaknesses: a. Strengths: i. Quality of talent, production ii. Effective Promotion iii. Event Timing iv. Outstanding Venues v. Stability and dedication
of the Stones and the Vail Jazz Foundation. b. Weaknesses: i. Tent Construction & Cost ii. Weather iii. Economic challenges iv. National Media Exposure ii. Event Budget and Use of Allocated
Funds The Town of Vail provided $30,600 in funding to the 2009 Vail Jazz Festival. In addition, the CSE awarded an additional $10,000 to help bring the Vail Jazz Party out into Vail
Square, and especially to support the Monday afternoon concert in Vail square. Jazz at the Market is funded indirectly, talent costs are paid by the Farmers’ Market whereas production
and other costs are borne by the VJF. In 2010, the Arrabelle drew back its funding and provided only in-kind support to the concerts in Vail Square: artist lodging and meals, venue rental
and storage, staging, security, insurance, trash and advertising. The Lionshead merchants group provided marketing support and a cash donation of $5,000 to support Jazz at Vail Square.
New sponsors were signed including the Ritz Carlton Residences and EverVail, Ravenscroft Pianos (replaced Yamaha), and Colorado Council on the Arts/National Endowment for the Arts. Revenue
from these sponsors helped offset a decrease in funding from individual and non-profit donors.. We are proud to have achieved our high standard of musical talent and production to produce
concerts we can all be proud of. iii. Marketing Efforts (samples available on request) a. Vail Jazz Foundation spring newsletter to 6,700 jazz fans nationwide. b. Promotional e-newsletter
sent to The Jazz Cruise list of 80,000 on three occasions. c. Promotional mailer sent to West Coast Jazz Party attendees promoting Vail Jazz Party. d. Vail Jazz Festival postcards sent
in March to database of 6,700. e. Vail Jazz Festival posters (400) displayed in and around Vail, included detail on concert series. f. Regular email blasts to a list of over 1200 1200
Vail Jazz Foundation subscribers. g. Email blast sent to Vail Valley Foundation list of 20,000 subscribers. h. Weekly advertising and talent profiles on KUVO 89 and KVJZ Jazz 88.5 FM
Jazz radio station. i. Full page ad in Vail Valley Magazine and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival summer program. j. Detailed concert listing in the Vail Valley Foundation’s Prima
summer events program. k. Radio ads on KZYR, The Mountain, and Jack FM. l. Inclusion in email communication to the Vail Resorts/Vail summer database. m. Tony Gulizia’s “Jazz at its Peak”
weekly radio show on KZYR included music from each week’s performers. n. Press releases weekly and then daily were published in the Vail Daily and Vail Mountaineer. o. Weekly Vail Daily
color ads on Thursdays promoted that week’s performer. p. Co-promotion with Gourmet on Gore and Vail Soul Fest, including distribution of programs. q. Weekly, and in September, daily
interviews on TV8. Profile on Plum TV.
3 r. Concierge and front desk staff, throughout the Valley, were emailed regarding the event and visited with collateral and additional information on a weekly basis. s. Online listings
including Colorado.com, vail.com, vail.net, visitvailvalley.com, realvail.com, vailpm.com and many others. t. Online banner during the Labor Day Weekend on Vail.net home page. u. Regular
updates on VJF Twitter and Facebook accounts. v. The Lionshead Merchant Association efforts included: i. Weekly Vail Daily ads listing the schedule of events taking place “This Week”
and within the “Upcoming Schedule” ii. Sandwich board signs posted around Lionshead for event announcement. iv. Statistical Information a. Attendance and Demographic Profile 55% out
of state visitors 30% Denver metro 9% Eagle County residents 17% other in-state visitors b. 54% were new to the Jazz Festival, 45% had attended before. c. Lodging Results: If visitor,
how long are you staying? 39% 4 nights or more (compared to 34% in 2009) 28% 1-3 nights 14% part time or seasonal residents 10% full time residents Note: For all free concerts, lodging
is driven through vail.com, for the Labor Day Weekend Party, we use our host hotel, the Vail Marriott. Average stay for first time guest at Vail Marriott was 4.8 nights. d. Age, Household
Income and Education highlights 60% 45-64 yrs of age 59% Annual household income exceeding $100,000 82% Four year college or post graduate degree e. In 2010 the festival drew 82% white
(not Hispanic), 8% African Americans, and 10% from diverse (non-white, including Hispanic) ethnic backgrounds. f. The highest response for “How did you hear about the Vail Jazz Festival”
was word of mouth, followed by mailer, the Jazz Cruise/West Coast Jazz Party promo, e-marketing, and newspaper. g. In order of popularity, the majority of our survey takers expressed
an intent to partake in the following activities during their stay: • dining out • shopping • hiking • sightseeing • biking • golfing • fishing • rafting • horse riding
4 h. 45% of respondents referred to jazz as either their favorite or most listened to form of music. This compares with 72% of respondents in 2009. i. 53% of respondents were only occasional
jazz listeners or entirely new to the art form. This compares with 33% of respondents in 2009. j. 67% rated the venues/facilities as ‘excellent’, 26% as good. This compares with 74%
and 22% in 2009. (most negative comments were regarding Marriott interior being ‘tired’). k. 93% rated the quality of the music as ‘excellent’, the rest the rest as ‘good’. l. 92% said
the Vail Jazz Festival would positively influence their intent to return to Vail. Estimated attendance at each of the Jazz at Vail Square concerts is summarized below. Date Headliner
Guests Weather Thursday, August 5 Marcia Ball 600 Rain, wet Thursday, August 12 Hot Tomatoes Swing Band & Dancers 500 Clear Thursday, August 19 Jacky Terrasson Trio 350 Rainstorm Thursday,
August 26 Curtis Stigers 650 PC Thursday, September 2 Clayton Brothers Quintet & VJF All-Stars 600 PC v. Potential for Growth and the Development of Sponsorships and Media Exposure The
event has realized new sponsorship support in 2010. One of our goals for 2011 is to secure a title sponsorship for the series, and to make a significant push to gain national recognition
among jazz, music, and entertainment press using existing contacts it the jazz world and New York, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles media contacts. vi. Impact on Vail’s “Sense of Community”
The Vail Jazz Festival created a significantly stronger ‘buzz’ in 2010. Anecdotally we learned that many people were planning their visits to the free concerts well before the week of
the show. And the Vail Jazz Party was strongly attended not only by the jazz fans who frequent our events, but by many other locals who simply look forward to this unique opportunity
in Vail each Labor Day Weekend. Jazz has become a part of Vail’s iconic culture and all you need to do is experience one Vail Jazz Festival event to feel the sense of community it creates!
vii. Environmental Sensitivity Our events are produced in conjunction with several key venue managers, all of whom have practices in place to contribute to the ‘greenness’ of our concert
venues. These include Vail Farmers Market, The Arrabelle, The Vail Marriott and Town of Vail. Conclusion: The Vail Jazz Festival achieves the key objectives of the CSE in these areas:
Increase lodging & sales tax collection Provide positive guest experience & foster sense of community Balance calendar of events Repeatable, sustainable model Provide measurable ROI